March 9, 2010
Interview: Globe and Mail Afghanistan correspondent Graeme Smith
Globe and Mail Afghanistan correspondent Graeme Smith. Illustration by Peter Mitchell. Calgary Herald reporter Michelle Lang was the first Canadian journalist to die covering the conflict in Afghanistan. She was killed on December 30, 2009. Her death brought to mind the dangers faced there not just by the military but by the media as well. From September 2005 to February 2009, Globe and Mail... [More >>]
January 29, 2010
Print media woes claim another victim: the obituary page
With the rise of paid death notices, the old-fashioned obit's days may be numbered. Photo by Graham F. Scott. Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Jobs’ conspicuously detailed death announcement, accidentally published by Bloomberg news service in 2008, revealed a little-known fact about the craft of writing obituaries: the blood doesn’t have to have gone cold before someone writes the first draft of... [More >>]
January 18, 2010
Olympic Countdown: B.C. teachers fight Games’ classroom hype
Vancouver 2010 Anti-Olympic mascot Bitey the Bedbug. Photo by Lotus Johnson. [This post has been amended, see note below] They were told to wear red and white, to cheer loudly and smile. They were handed little Canadian flags and instructed to wave them with gusto. “This is an opportunity of a lifetime,” they were told. Some 540 students at L’École Victor Brodeur in Esquimalt, B.C., where my... [More >>]
January 15, 2010
Olympic Countdown: Quick guide to Vancouver 2010 protest do’s and don’ts
Why yes, officer, I can hand out this leaflet. Maybe. It’s no doubt that clashes between protesters and police will end up being the big story of the 2010 Olympics. There are new bylaws on the books, the usual International Olympic Committee rules, our own Canadian Charter rights, and official statements from the Vancouver Police Department—and they all contradict each other. So, how do you know... [More >>]
November 26, 2009
The new face of porn
A new generation of feminists are reclaiming porn, both as consumers and producers. A (very) intimate journey Erika Lust on the set of "Barcelona Sex Project," her "erotic experimental film" that exemplifies the style of the new crop of feminist-identified pornographers. Photo courtesy Lust Films. The first time I remember thinking critically about pornography, I was 15. It was... [More >>]
November 13, 2009
Strengthen democracy and fight bigotry head-on — Legalize Hate Speech
The fight for free speech is not the work of angels. Academics love Evelyn Hall’s famous saying, “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” In the age of promiscuous online speech, the sentiment of two university protestors seems more apt: “Free speech for all. Even douchebags.” Marc Lemire, the cherubic-faced webmaster of white supremacist Freedomsite,... [More >>]
November 10, 2009
Pay indie artists and break the music monopoly — Legalize Music Piracy
Music is a dead industry walking. A radical all-you-can-eat plan promises unlimited tunes and puts artists — not record companies — first Politically speaking, it was a pretty good haul of booty. On June 7, an organization of self-described “pirates” took what was a fairly small step toward gaining real political clout, but a gigantic leap for everyone in the world who has ever downloaded... [More >>]
October 19, 2009
Girls Gone Wild. So? Sometimes being brave means being bad
With Amy Winehouse, Lindsay Lohan, and Britney Spears splashed across tabloid covers, racing toward early graves, it’s easy to think they’re stupid or sick. But there’s something irresistably subversive about women who won’t behave The website “When Will Amy Winehouse Die?” reads like a macabre count-the-jellybeans contest. How many days does a junkie have left to live?... [More >>]
September 23, 2009
Canadian independent video-game designers score big internationally
Gameplay in Critter Crunch for the Playstation 3. Image courtesy Capybara Games. On May 5, 2006, 35 Toronto area video-game developers converged in one spot with a particular goal in mind: to create an entire game, start to finish, in just three days. It was a daunting task, but in the end 10 completed games were assembled, while seven others came just short of the deadline. The Toronto Game Jam—or... [More >>]
September 16, 2009
Archie marries Veronica, subverts Freud’s Madonna-Whore Complex
In choosing Veronica over Betty, Archie Andrews overturns 70 years’ worth of cultural expectations “Just a matter of skill, that’s all!” Archie Andrews’ first words (said as he stood precariously atop his bike) may have seemed spontaneous in 1941, but 70 years have imbued the line with more weight than a supersized chocolate malt. The comic world’s most famous redhead proved to be... [More >>]
