Monthly Archives: July 2007

Un titre bilingue for a bilingual blog

This week’s blog is An Unexamined Life, written by an anonymous (well, I know who she is because she added me on Facebook) bilingual mother whose kids don’t know about it (hopefully they won’t figure it out). It’s another in the people-I-emailed-in-February- but-haven’t-spoken-to-since- so-they-probably-thought- I-forgot-about-them camp.

It’s a personal blog (sometimes feeling almost a bit too personal), and very poetic. Check it out.

My bank of blogs to profile is nearing empty, so I’m going to start another round. Know of any local blogs that should get more attention? Email me (blog at fagstein.com). Here are my preferred criteria:

  • Authored by a Montrealer or Montrealers, or about Montreal in some way (by Montreal I refer to the greater metropolitan area, including the West Island and nearby shores)
  • Updates often (at least once a week)
  • General audience (meaning not someone’s LiveJournal recounting their daily minutiae and friend dramas)
  • Unique in some way (interesting to read, interesting to write about)
  • Not one I (or somebody else) has already written about (search this blog’s archives for mentions)

PEI’s license plates say more about the media than PEI

Ken Meaney, CanWest’s sole reporter east of Quebec City, has an article this weekend about new PEI license plates.

Actually, not exactly. The article is about anonymous comments left on the Charlottetown Guardian website about PEI’s license plates being available in French.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that any discussion of things like gun control, abortion, gay rights, religion, vegetarianism, immigration, and — in Canada — language rights on an open Internet forum is going to bring out people with strong opinions on the subject. Some of those people will have reasoned arguments and will listen to other points of view. Most will not.

The comments (and especially those of a second copy of the story posted the same day the previous one got national attention) mostly fall into the latter category, and quickly degenerate into Quebec-bashing, making rather outrageous claims about its language laws (Businesses are not allowed to have bilingual signs, people are not allowed to speak English in public, the Canadian government isn’t protecting the English language)

And yet somehow an entire article was written on this story and its 30 comments. One that wasn’t written about the original release of the new plates in April, which generated 76 comments on the Guardian’s website. But that one couldn’t easily be exploited with a stupid story to prod the populace with the language debate.

Is there no real news happening in PEI?

(Side note: The Guardian’s logo has the worst kerning I’ve ever seen)

UPDATE: The Gazette has a short editorial about the issue Tuesday. It theorizes that anonymous commenters on web forums might not represent the moderate views of the populace.

Hey you! Are you dry?

I’m drenched. Just came back from Angrignon Park, where “Montreal’s Largest Water Fight” took over an area next to a lake and about 100-150 people with their $20 Chinese Super-Soaker knockoffs targetted each other with no mercy.

A few things to note:

  • The turnout was far fewer than Facebook’s 980 “confirmed guests”. This was due to a number of reasons, chief among them I think being that many confirmed their attendance over a month ago and may have forgotten about it since then. Nevertheless, it was more than enough to make it enjoyable for everyone and keep it going for hours.
  • Facebook is clearly getting more mainstream, and its events are getting media coverage:
    • TQS had a cameraman
    • CTV sent reportobabe Annie DeMelt (sadly, she came out of it bone dry). She spent the 30 minutes she was there mostly on the phone with her assignment editor (I’m always surprised by how much TV reporters spend taking on their cellphones while on location). She seemed a bit peeved that there weren’t more people, and that she couldn’t find the organizer. Sure enough, the report on the news focused on the attempt to break the world record, which was on nobody’s mind at the time.
    • The Gazette sent new crack reporter Amy Luft with photographer Tim Snow. Tim apparently got some excellent shots of me being showered with a hundred streams of water simultaneously. Hopefully my dear editors will have the sense to save me from the public humiliation. Look for the article in The Gazette next Saturday in Montreal Diary.
  • Two people showed up about two hours into the fight with coolers and buckets. The buckets were filled with water balloons and the coolers with free cans of Guru. Apparently the unappetizing energy drink makers thought this would be a golden marketing opportunity. Everyone got some Guru, but I’m not sure if anyone’s going to buy any. (Side note: Apparently Guru 100% Natural Tangerine Energy Drink is not a significant source of Vitamin C)
  • Wet T-shirts. Yeah.
    • (And for the ladies: Bare-chested men)
    • (And for the nerdies: Bare-chested Fred Ngo)
  • Rumours of the next fight being scheduled near the end of August
  • Some people went a bit overboard with their guns. One had a giant reservoir pack on his back, with a tube supplying his gun with an endless supply of water. The most inventive choice though had to be a bucket. Fills in a second, and delivers a big punch, but only once.

I got there about 12:15, expecting a huge crowd (or at least a small crowd) at the Angrignon Park exit to the metro station. I had to look a bit before I found some people with bright-coloured water guns shooting at each other. I stayed and watched for a bit before I decided I’d just go out, buy one for myself and join in the fun.

I came back, loaded my gun and sauntered over to the grassy shooting field. It wasn’t long before someone noticed I wasn’t wet at all. Then another. And another. Suddenly I was being swarmed. The mob was growing and everyone was targetting me. I had to close my eyes by this point so all I remember is lots of water.

Water fight today at noon

Looking for something to do this afternoon? Not afraid of a little water? Montreal’s “Largest Water Fight” is scheduled for today (Saturday) at noon at Angrignon Park.

It’s being organized via Facebook, but for those who don’t want to sign up here’s the details:

  • Saturday, July 21, 12:00pm at Angrignon Park (Angrignon metro)
  • Bring water pistols, but nothing dangerous, no water balloons etc.
  • There’s rumours of barbecues on site
  • The Facebook group says it’ll end at midnight, but unless it’s the party of the century (you never know) it will probably only go a few hours
  • 980 confirmed guests (this has been in the works for months), with another 1,100 “maybe” attending
  • Not officially sanctioned, meaning the police could end up shutting this down before it even begins

Want to make a weekend out of having fun? Here’s some other free stuff going on:

  • Manhunt, 5pm Saturday at St-Laurent and René-Lévesque
  • Fireworks, 10pm Saturday on the Jacques-Cartier Bridge or the Port of Montreal (Papineau metro)
  • Anarchist soccer, 2pm Sunday at Wilfrid-Laurier Park (Laurier metro)
  • Scrabble, 3pm Sunday at Lafontaine Park

Robert Fisk is an idiot

In a column Saturday, everyone’s favourite kinda-journalist Robert Fisk talks about why he thinks people are turning to blogs instead of newspapers. He doesn’t like blogs because they’re “irresponsible” (a valid criticism, though hypocritical, of some blogs out there), so … actually, there’s no reason for him to mention this, because he doesn’t explain it further.

To explain his case for blogs over newspapers, he uses two newspaper mea culpas: Mark Arax, an L.A. Times journalist who had a story about debate over the Armenian genocide cut because he expressed an opinion in the debate (albeit the majority-accepted one that the genocide did, in fact, happen); and Jan Wong, who wrote a column in the Globe and Mail about the Dawson College shooting, blaming it and the Fabrikant and Polytechnique shootings all on Quebec racism.

I’m unfamiliar with the Arax case (and it sounds kind of boring anyway), so I’ll deal with Wong’s.

First of all, I should point out that the Wong case has nothing to do with blogs, so I’m kind of curious why it’s mentioned in this column.

Second, Fisk doesn’t actually use any arguments to bolster Wong’s case. Instead, he goes on a tangent, bringing up a copyright dispute between his paper and hers, directly translating French terms and making fun of them, and pointing out that a newspaper’s editorial cartoon exaggerated her facial features (oh the horror!).

Since Fisk doesn’t argue the case, I’ll have to simply dismiss his opinion on the subject. Wong’s opinion can be easily discounted by the simple argument that none of the three shooters she talks about blamed racism or language bias against them. Polytechnique’s Marc Lepine blamed women, Concordia’s Valery Fabrikant blamed coworkers stealing his ideas, and Dawson’s Kimveer Gill’s motives are still unclear.

The Wikipedia article sums everything up quite well.

Robert, I know you’re a cranky old man, but if you’re going to rant like an idiot, maybe you shouldn’t waste newspaper space?

Damn kids

In a display of cojones even I couldn’t match, The Gazette today says the reason we have less crime in this country is because we have fewer black people, because even though most black people don’t commit crimes, most crimes are committed by black people. Cut out the black menace, and we have fewer crimes.

It’s an outrageous claim that will no doubt lead to someone’s immediate firing and numerous complaints with the Quebec human rights tribunal.

Oh, wait… it’s not black people. It’s young people. They’re the cause of all this crime.

Well then, that kind of discrimination and blatant offensive generalization is perfectly acceptable.

Say it with me now folks: Correlation is not causation.

Quebec’s at-risk overpasses, bridges and ramps

After pressure from truckers, the Quebec Transport Department has finally decided to release the list of 135 overpasses it considers “at-risk” (but not “unsafe”) and is prohibiting overloaded trucks from taking them. The complete list is in PDF form on their website.

It contains eight overpasses on the Island of Montreal:

At-risk overpasses in Montreal

I’ve plotted them on Google Maps. Click the image above to see in detail. They are:

  • An overpass (the department isn’t clear which one) on Highway 520 South over itself (?) leading to the airport
  • Côte-Vertu Blvd. over Highway 13
  • Tellier Street over Highway 25, a few blocks north of the tunnel
  • Monette Street over Highway 138 in LaSalle (this counts as two separate overpasses, one for each direction of the 138)
  • Gouin Blvd. over Highway 19 (Papineau)
  • Bleury Street over Highway 720, beside the Palais des Congrès
  • The exit ramp from Highway 13 northbound to Highway 40 over Saint-François Road

UPDATE: I’ve added the rest of the 135 overpasses.

Quebec’s at-risk overpasses

I desperately need something more productive to do with my time.

Leave de Salaberry alone

Speaking of Mayor Ed and his wacky ideas, he’s changing his tune on the development of de Salaberry Blvd., an undeveloped East-West route from Kirkland to Sources Blvd. and beyond.

For those unfamiliar with de Salaberry, most of it is a two or four-lane road, starting from Sommerset Street in the West (where it crosses into Kirkland) and ending just east of Sources Blvd.

What makes this road unusual is that right next to it, for almost its entire length in Dollard, is a wide grassy area with power lines on it. The plan was to eventually turn this small road into a major East-West thoroughfare, halfway between Pierrefonds Blvd. and Highway 40. That never happened, mostly because it would just shift traffic onto Sources and wouldn’t solve West Island traffic headaches.

Unclear on the fact that nothing will solve West Island traffic headaches so long as the airport, the rail yards and Highway 13 stay where they are, he’s been trying to push through a development plan that would extend the street through the Bois de Liesse park:

De Salaberry development route

Needless to say, that plan didn’t win over too many people. So instead, he’s now proposing that it be a bus-only lane. Now you can’t accuse him of not being environmentally-friendly. He’s pro-transit!

There’s a few problems with the idea though:

  1. There’s already a dedicated public transit system running through the Bois de Liesse. It’s the Montreal-Deux Montagnes train line. And it’s used plenty.
  2. The big problem isn’t rush-hour service but the rest of the time when there’s no express shuttle between Fairview and the Côte-Vertu metro station. The success of the 470 Express Pierrefonds bus (which runs shuttles during rush-hour and then continues north and west) should give the STM the idea that a regular-service express shuttle (like the 211 between Dorval and Lionel-Groulx) is a good idea, but they haven’t done anything. Outside of rush-hour, the shuttle time is 20 minutes.
  3. The only logical place for a bus to go is the massive Fairview bus terminal. This would mean the bus would go north, then west, only to go back south again. Why do this when the highway is right there?
  4. It’s still just as bad in terms of developing one of Montreal’s few remaining natural preserves.

Sorry Ed. The Chronicle may love your idea, but I don’t see it being necessary. We need more buses to the West Island, not more bus lanes.

Since when is not doing anything a crime?

Dollard-des-Ormeaux mayor Ed Janiszewski isn’t unusual. He’s like a lot of suburban mayors. But that doesn’t make his ideas less silly.

In a bid to stop those Evil Teenagers Up To No Good (TM), Dollard’s council passed a new by-law prohibiting loitering in public areas of the town.

“Loitering” has always been one of those terms I found odd. It sounds bad, like something a drug dealer or gang member would do. But what is it, exactly? Well, technically, “loitering” means “being somewhere just because you feel like it.”

Now, you might think a law forbidding people from standing in a public place without a grown-up reason would seem somewhat unconstitutional. In fact, such laws have been declared unlawful in the U.S. But still they persist. Businesses and other institutions have “no loitering” signs posted outside, and laws are drawn up with complicated definitions to try to outlaw something which feels illegal but is not actually a violation of any law.

The logic is best explained by this Janiszewski quote:

“Kids aren’t all bad. They need to hang out, to be with their peer group, but it shouldn’t be in public. They should be at their home or at somebody else’s home.”

Yes, folks. Dollard’s mayor doesn’t want kids hanging out in public.

Next time adults wonder why kids feel alienated or rebellious, maybe they might consider that adults are taking away kids’ rights to be kids.

New turnstiles in the metro

The STM has begun installing new turnstiles in the metro, starting at the De la Savane, Monk, Plamondon and Villa-Maria stations. The new turnstiles are designed to be used with electronic smart cards, which will allow the transit authority more control over payment (including, for example, establishing a zone system where you pay for how far you go).

Sadly, when eventually put into service along with the new electronic fare systems installed in buses last year, this will spell the end of Montreal’s notorious but still fully functional punch-card transfers.

Journal de Québec: only the beginning

The locked-out/on-strike workers at the Journal de Québec are getting money for the long-term. The FTQ’s mining union has offered a $750,000 interest-free loan, and other donations bring the figure they have to work with close to a million. The union, which is giddy over the extra money, now has a war chest to take this into the long haul.

The Journal has been producing mostly wire copy and Journal de Montréal stories since the labour disruption began in April.

Journalism: Can any idiot do it?

Patrick points out some thoughts going around about “citizen media”, the concept of “crowdsourcing” news gathering the way Wikipedia crowdsources the writing and editing of an encyclopedia. A Wired piece on Assignment Zero and a reaction to that piece, plus a general assessment of citizen journalism.

The real thinkers are starting to understand how open journalism will and will not work. It will change the way news is gathered in this world, but it won’t replace journalists or big media, nor will it give companies an easy way to save money they would have spent on journalists.

The last link above has an important point: experimenting is cheap, and as more experiments like Assignment Zero succeed and fail, natural selection will eventually give us something that really works. Another Wikipedia or YouTube.

Until then, hopefully I’ll still be able to earn a living.