On the blog
One Track Mind: The Great Sabatini – Matterhorn – City Limits
Occupying a wonderfully strange place on the Canadian metal landscape, one that combines great technical dexterity with the deep emotional reverberations of sludge (the band lovingly refer to this micro-genre as “swamp trench arithmetic”), The Great Sabatini have dropped a new mountain on their particular musical skyline with Matterhorn. “City Limits” is the opening track… More »
Independent tow truck operators protest latest OPP proposal; call it death knell
May 16, 2012 • One of the best ways to get noticed is to disrupt the morning commute. That is exactly what a convoy of independent tow truck drivers did this morning as part of a protest against the Ontario Provincial Police’s proposal to contact its use of tow truck companies to a selected few. Together, those 50 plus... More »
The dirty dozen
Are we only interested in ourselves? The recent uproar over the provocative (dare I say titillating) May 2012 Time magazine cover on attachment parenting has got me thinking again about local food. The old joke among lactating mothers is that breast milk is the most local you can get. The other thing about the article… More »
Reopen the abortion debate?
On May 10, the annual anti-abortion rally was held on Parliament Hill in Ottawa. This year’s event has come at a very interesting time in the Canadian abortion debate. Only weeks earlier, Stephen Harper denounced fellow Tory Stephen Woodworth’s bid to reopen the debate in the House of Commons. Woodworth, a Conservative backbencher, recently proposed… More »
On a billboard near you: Tim Hetherington’s Sleeping Soldiers
May 11, 2012 • While waiting for a bus on Lansdowne Avenue, a gritty strip in Toronto’s west end, I was struck by an image on a billboard (no small feat considering how often my nose is in the position of downward-facing iPhone). The photo was of a shirtless young man, his body curled up in what appeared to... More »
Hundreds gather at Enbridge AGM in Toronto to protest pipelines
May 9, 2012 • About 200 protesters gathered on King Street today as Enbridge held their annual general meeting inside the King Edward Hotel. The mass of protesters had congregated on the street to voice their opinions on the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline, which would stretch 1,172 kilometres from Bruderheim, Alta., to the port of Kitimat, B.C. The proposed... More »
Can we define Occupy?
My Occupy thesis: In my quest to follow the Occupy movement this summer, I realized it’s imperative to first understand what Occupy is and who it represents. We have all seen the signs and heard the slogans about the 99 percent, but is everyone involved and do they even care? Given, it’s rather a complicated… More »
We discuss The Mechanical Bride
During Toronto’s Hot Docs closing weekend, I watched a fascinating film called The Mechanical Bride. The U.S. film, directed by Allison de Fren, is a 76-minute journey into the world of men and their life-sized dolls: how they’re made, how they’re fixed, how men relate to them, how they have sex with them, and how… More »
Quebec student strike still looming
May 8, 2012 • The student strike in Quebec does not look to be ending anytime soon. While a tentative agreement was struck on May 6, following a 22-hour negotiation between the students and the Quebec government, it will likely be annulled after the 150,000 students around the province vote this week. If the agreement is passed, it would... More »
On taking a pop culture time out
A couple of weeks ago, I came home to my worst nightmare. I turned on my television and nothing happened. No picture, no noise, not even some static or a TV test pattern. I was overcome with fear. No Chuck Bass. No feeling better about my evening wine consumption via the drunks on Intervention. No… More »
Five Questions for Bronwen Wallace winner Jen Neale
May 4, 2012 • Jen Neale is a 28-year-old Vancouver based writer and winner of the RBC Bronwen Wallace Award for Emerging Writers, for her story “Elk-Headed Man”. This particular literary prize boasts a fine track record of uncovering some of the country’s future literary stars. Past winner Alyssa York presented Neale with $5,000 in Toronto on Wednesday.... More »
One Track Mind: Cancer Bats — Dead Set On Living — R.A.T.S.
I love writing album reviews. I end up turning out around five of them a week, give or take a few. I love the structure that records take on, the universal constraints of time and sound that bind the concepts. I love the sensuality of aural art forms, the wordlessness of music simultaneously defied and… More »
May 18, 2012
How companies are capitalizing on teamwork, turnover, and a growing youth workforce that sees the labour movement as passé
The meat counter at the Cambie Street Whole Foods in Vancouver is thirty feet long, filled with choice cuts of beef, lamb, chicken, pork, and at least 20 different kinds of sausages. Two clerks, dressed in white smocks, black aprons, and Whole Foods caps, hustle around behind the counter, making sure everything looks just… More »
