Category Archives: My articles

National Post amused by our wacky cop cars

July 22, 2009 – 3:31 am| Posted in Montreal, My articles

My post about Montreal's stealth police cars prompted an article in the National Post in Wednesday's paper (an article written by a former colleague of mine at the hippie university paper).

I mention this in its separate post not just because of the fact that the article quotes me and the Post used one of my photos on Page 3, but ... uhh ... [insert better reason here later].

They used this photo (though heavily cropped on the sides - I'd be outraged, but I've done it enough times as an editor):

Invisible cop car giving a ticket

Of course, I took this photo not thinking that a national newspaper would want to use it. I spent little effort composing the shot, took it at a low resolution (the lowest my camera goes is 1728 x 1152, fortunately that was enough to make it printable) and didn't bother getting names or other information.

On the flip side, it's something that happened randomly as I was out shopping. If it wasn't for the fact that I almost always have my camera with me, I'd have never gotten the shot. Instead, I stopped, pulled the camera out of my backpack, and took a few shots before continuing on my way.

Let that be a lesson to you freelance photographers and bloggers out there: always have your camera ready, and don't assume you know how a photo might be used later.

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40 years ago today

July 20, 2009 – 10:56 pm| Posted in Humour, My articles, Slow News Day, Video

The Onion: Holy Shit - Man walks on fucking moon

Oh, and I should add a link to the Bluffer's Guide in Monday's Gazette, courtesy of yours truly: The moon landings: fake or fact?. Choosing a news-relevant topic was enough to get my name above the fold on Page 1 (all part of my master plan).

UPDATE: This story surfaced just after I filed that one, showing that there are indeed pictures of the moon landing sites. But, of course, those are all fakes. (Thanks Ha!)

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New Monday Gazette (with TWIMy goodness)

September 8, 2008 – 2:42 pm| Posted in Business, Media, Montreal, My articles
New Monday Gazette front (Sept. 8, 2008)

New Monday Gazette front (Sept. 8, 2008)

The four of you who still read paper newspapers will notice a dramatic shift in Monday's Gazette. It's gotten smaller.

The most dramatic change is the consolidation of the news, Your Business and Arts & Life sections into the A section, similar to what happens in the Sunday paper. The Sports section is unchanged (in fact, it's a larger-than-normal 10 pages this week), as is the ad-generating Driving section. The length of the paper reduces overall by about six pages.

Editor-in-Chief Andrew Phillips is honest in his note to readers today about why this is happening:

The main reason for the change is that the cost of newsprint is rising dramatically. In the past year, it has gone up by about 24 per cent, and it is adding more than $2 million to our annual expenses. Fuel costs, as everyone knows, have also gone up sharply.

The fact is we can't keep printing the same size newspaper at a time when the competition for advertising revenue (which makes up about three-quarters of our income) is much tougher. The time is long past when newspapers like The Gazette could just absorb extra costs and pass all of them on to advertisers.

Of course, no doubt some readers won't agree (especially when it's combined with a slight increase in subscription rates), so Andrew and the rest of the staff are fully ready for an onslaught of complaints. He has a blog post explaining the situation, and readers are encouraged to comment there, or by email to his address or the new monday@thegazette.canwest.com.

As if in answer to management's prayers to give them some cover fire, the New York Times also announced that it would be consolidating sections to save on newsprint. One of my colleagues got the idea to run a story about that in the Your Business section today, and Andrew points that out to readers.

(UPDATE Sept. 11: Andrew has a summary of the reaction, which is negative, but not as bad as he feared)

Here's what's changed

The new layout of A1 (as seen above) emphasizes the newspaper's slew of Monday columnists (because, try as they might, little news happens on Sundays), with quotes along the side from marquee names.

Content-wise, the changes are modest:

  • Your Business takes the biggest hit, dropping to only three pages (1.5 if you discount the ads). This essentially means there will be one entrepreneurial feature story instead of two. Don Macdonald's and Paul Delean's columns are still there. It will also no longer be able to take advantage of the occasional extra page that pops up at the last minute when obituaries are light.
  • Editorial and Opinion pages are, for the first time, combined into a single page, with an opinion piece along the bottom, a single editorial and fewer letters. Monday opinion pages tend to be a bit stale sometimes because they're created on the Friday before (along with Saturday and Sunday pages).
  • Arts & Life is reduced in size (and fewer pages are in colour), but no regular features are cut (the HealthWatch column moves to Tuesdays). Green Life, Showbiz Chez Nous, Dating Girl, Susan Schwartz (though she's off this week), Hugh Anderson's Seniors column, Applause, This Week's Child, Fine Tuning (with the TV grid) are all still there.
  • Squeaky Wheels moves off of A2 to make way for the Bluffer's Guide and the new Monday calendar.

It's not all bad

On the plus side (and so people can get excited about something), two new features are being introduced on Mondays. A2 features a weekly look-ahead calendar, with information on events to look forward to. There's also a Monday Closeup, which features an interview with someone who will be relevant to something happening that week. (The first week features an author talking about winning book awards, as the Man Booker shortlist is being announced)

But let's get back to talking about me

Now here's where I fit in: I'm the one putting together that look-ahead calendar. So if you know of any interesting newsworthy events coming up, let me know and I'll see if I can get it in. Take a look at what's already in the calendar to see what kind of stuff I'm talking about.

Note that the following are not things that will make it into the calendar:

  • Your birthday party
  • Your awesome rock/blues/polka band playing at Sala Rossa.
  • Your garage/bake/charity sale
  • Your book reading
  • Your support group meetup
  • Your $500 basket-weaving training course
  • Your company's new advertising campaign launch
  • Any of the above replacing "your" with "your friend's"

I mean, unless it's really exceptional. Like you're pulling a plane or something.

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TWIM: Scientology, the NFL and other threats to our existence

August 16, 2008 – 10:55 am| Posted in Montreal, My articles, Sports

A double dose from yours truly today:

This week's Justify Your Existence is an interview with a member of Anonymous, the anti-Scientology group. Though she's unnamed, you'll recognize her as the same young woman I made fun of talked about earlier when a video was posted on YouTube in which she said Scientology conspired to get her fired from her job. Though I suggested she was weird, to her credit, she was willing to sit down with me and explain herself. Reaction on their forums is starting to build here.

There's also a protest today at 11 near Lafontaine Park, for anyone interested.

UPDATE: For those of you who are reading this article because it was posted on the Anonymous forums and have never read it before, Justify Your Existence by its very nature takes a tough stand against its interview subjects -- part of the reason it's tough getting interviews sometimes.

Also, from the Enterbulation forums:

NO WAY!!!!
His name is Steve Fagay?????

Actually, no it's not. But I'm touched by the maturity.

Finally, I've already got hate mail. Sweet.

NFL vs. CFL

This week's Bluffer's Guide is about the Buffalo Bills game in Toronto this week, and what the NFL testing the waters in Canada could mean for our national football game. There's suggestion that the Bills might move to Toronto after its current owner dies and the franchise is sold off. Such a move, worryers say, would spell the end to the Toronto Argonauts, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and probably even the CFL itself.

It comes the same day as this piece from The Gazette's Herb Zurkowsky, quoting league officials worried about the NFL threat. He also has some interesting history in his notes that I wish I'd stolen from is useful for context.

UPDATE (Aug. 21): A reader points out that other NFL games have taken place on Canadian soil. This will be the first time that regular-season games take place in Canada, however.

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TWIM: Blogging for dollars

July 26, 2008 – 2:44 pm| Posted in Blogosphere, Montreal, My articles

This week, I talk about a local blogger, Stephen David Wark, who is participating in a Blogathon today (9am Saturday to 9am Sunday) to raise money for the Autism Clinic at the Montreal Children's Hospital. He's already started blogging, and will continue to post every half hour until 9am tomorrow. (And you better bet he blogged about the article). So show him (and the children) some love.

UPDATE: The article has apparently gotten people interested and donating, and he's already raised more money than last year. I'll go ahead and take credit for that.

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TWIM: Can Flashpoint become Due South 2?

July 19, 2008 – 3:14 pm| Posted in My articles, TV

This week, the Bluffer's Guide is on the new CTV series Flashpoint, the cop drama "proudly set in Toronto" (but not mentioning its name) which was picked up by CBS and is being aired on both networks at the bound-for-cancellation hour of 10pm Fridays. The decision to pick up the show was made in desperation because the U.S. was facing a writer's strike, and considering how U.S. critics panned the show, CBS isn't exactly promoting the heck out of it.

But then a funny thing happened: The show's ratings weren't horrible. It got more than 8 million viewers in its premiere, and 7 million last night, winning the night against such fierce competition as repeats of America's Funniest Home Videos and more repeats of Most Outrageous Moments. Now CBS is talking about potentially renewing the show beyond its 13-episode order.

Then again, that Just for Laughs ABC show also had adequate ratings in the face of critical failure, and it didn't last long. The plug on that show was finally pulled in May.

UPDATE (July 22): The plot thickens. CBS has rewarded Flashpoint with a switch to Thursdays at 10 (Swingtown does the reverse). The Gazette has a piece on the show, with a dig about how the franco press aren't covering it.

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NHL free agency explained (I hope)

July 7, 2008 – 1:35 am| Posted in Canadiens, My articles

The Bluffer's Guide this week, courtesy once again of yours truly, is about NHL free agency, which began on July 1 as it does every year. Our beloved Canadiens got its star power-play quarterback snatched away, but have acquired a thug enforcer to toughen the team up.

Because NHL contracts are complicated, I figured some training might be useful for us less-than-insane fans and well-wishers. In order to do that, of course, I had to read the collective agreement that was signed in 2005 after the lockout.

Unfortunately, I failed to realize that the agreement is over 450 pages long (PDF).

Didn't get a lot of sleep that night. And I'm sure I still got a bunch of things wrong.

Not that I'm worried. If I fail at journalism here, I can always sign in Russia, right?

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TWIM: Dion’s carbon tax idea

June 22, 2008 – 4:20 am| Posted in My articles, Video

Somehow, despite working 42 hours this week, I managed to put together another bluffer's guide, for the Liberal carbon tax plan. Liberal leader Stéphane Dion calls it Green Shift, which I guess is not to be confused with this Green Shift. From the video, it seems to have something to do with stock photos of plants and animals, combined with people in suits clapping awkwardly in a white room.

The 48-page plan (PDF), which ironically wastes quite a bit of space by having blank pages and one-word all-green title pages, explains far more details than non-Liberal politicians would have liked, because now they can't attack Dion for being unclear.

That doesn't mean they won't attack the Liberals though. The Tories have already setup a they-think-it's-funny website mocking Dion and his plan, saying everyone but the tooth fairy and leprechauns will have to pay more taxes as a result of it.

Basically all you need to know about the plan is this:

  • It would tax polluting fossil fuels and cut income taxes to balance the money difference
  • It exempts gasoline, because politicians are too scared to admit that high gas prices help the environment when suburban soccer moms are griping about how much money it takes to fill up their SUVs. This makes the plan useless for its intended purpose.
  • It's a Liberal plan, and the Liberals have to become the government and get support from a majority of MPs before they can implement it.
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Sorry for the genocide

June 15, 2008 – 4:18 am| Posted in My articles

This week's bluffer's guide courtesy of yours truly is about the Canadian residential school system, which the Canadian government formally apologized for this week. In addition to the apology, the government is handing out money by the bucketsful to people who lived in these schools, and has agreed to setup a Truth and Reconciliation commission to study the matter.

The latter is certainly a good idea because despite the huge amount of information out there, a lot of it is contradictory and it would be nice to get some more accuracy about a very shameful part of Canada's history. I had a lot of trouble with conflicting information about when the schools started, when they closed, where they were located and how many there were and what their ages were (in other words, about half the information in this Reuters factbox). We're still not entirely sure how many people are involved, but it could easily be over 100,000.

That said, for further reading I would recommend the Indian Residential School Survivor Society and the residential school settlement website.

Also, be sure to check out this classic 1950s CBC educational video about the school system. It's so cliché it hurts.

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TWIM: GM/CAW FYI

June 8, 2008 – 4:43 am| Posted in My articles

I filled in once again for Master Bluffer Peter Cooney in this week's Bluffer's Guide as he was having a busy week. I wrote about GM's closing of a plant in Oshawa, Ont., and what the Canadian Auto Workers union is doing about it.

Naturally, because I'm drunk with power, I included a near-non-sequitur about Stephen Colbert:

But what about Stephen Colbert? True, the city did name March 20, 2007 "Stephen Colbert Day" after the mayor lost a bet with the TV satirist over a game between the Oshawa Generals and Colbert's favourite Saginaw (Mich.) Spirit, who named their mascot after Colbert. This came after Colbert encouraged Spirit fans to throw copies of GM's earnings reports onto the ice during a game, a gesture that would perhaps seem not so tongue-in-cheek now.

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