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Martel on Harper’s reading habits

This Magazine Staff

Best-selling author Yann Martel was so unimpressed with the reception he and other artists received in the House of Commons recently that he’s come up with a web-based response: For as long as Stephen Harper is Prime Minister of Canada, I vow to send him every two weeks, mailed on a Monday, a book that […] More »

The changing nature of the word “friend”

This Magazine Staff

I’ve been thinking a lot about the changing nature of the word “friend” in the MySpace/Facebook era. For those of you who haven’t become addicted yet, Facebook is a piece of highly sophisticated social networking software that instantly connects you with everyone you already know, and people that you had long forgotten. The way to […] More »

Radioactive Shortstops, Goodbye Coke and more Typewriter Geekery

This Magazine Staff

It seems that everyone these days is carbon offsetting; paying a third party to neutralize the carbon emissions that a certain activity would create (ie. by planting trees). The Cincinnati Reds just recently announced that they went carbon-neutral for their opening day game against the Chicago Cubs. On the flip side are the Toronto Blue […] More »

Help “Save the Internet” win a Webby

This Magazine Staff

We’ve mentioned Save the Internet before, and no doubt our blogging was a big factor (yeah, right) in getting the video about the importance of Net Neutrality nominated for a Webby award. Why am I highlighting this nominee over the others? Because a friend of the magazine, Matt Thompson, is the creator of the video. […] More »

Greeks, Sex and Alanis

This Magazine Staff

Some things have been bugging me a lot lately. I worked a sorority ball the other night and it was by far the most embarassing thing I’ve ever witnessed. My university didn’t allow greek associations and so until now I never quite understood what my friends meant when they admitted to hating these people. I’m […] More »

corporate copyright complications complete complexity coefficient

This Magazine Staff

(image courtesy Urban Counterfeiters blog) Okay, let’s see if I can follow the thread here: Boing Boing, famous for championing the copyleft reaction to corporate cultural lockdowns such as the well-documented Disney protectionism over the Mickey Mouse image (draw Mickey without pants; enjoy expensive philosophical discussions with Disney lawyers), has recently taken up the cause […] More »

AFSCME: The f—ing union that works for you

This Magazine Staff

If you believe Internet lore, this clip is the result of a voice-over outtake done when the original commercial was shot, produced and aired more than 25 years ago. Today, it’s receiving all kinds of online plaudits from younger labour-conscious folks who say it embodies the kind of approach the labour movement should be taking […] More »

continental sport

This Magazine Staff

(image, courtesy Toronto FC) This is the third in what I hope will become a long-running series of lame attempts to turn my latest sporting obsession into something resembling a Canadian political discussion. So, with that it mind, please choose the angle you wish to use to discuss Toronto FC’s historic first game ever played […] More »

Vancouver journalists to give presentation on Afghanistan

This Magazine Staff

A feature in the current issue of the magazine, entitled “Staying the course: Why Canada shouldn’t pull its troops out of Afghanistan,” has generated its fair share of discussion, as our next issue’s Letters pages will attest. The discussion continues to evolve as Canada’s involvement in the NATO mission in Afghanistan carries on — and […] More »

Let’s choose not to be pitied

This Magazine Staff

Okay, take a look at the image for yourself: This is the photo that Fondation Emergence has chosen to illustrate this year’s National Day Against Homophobia on May 17th. In my latest column for Capital Xtra, I argue that this kind of imagery elicits pity rather than celebration, and treats the queer community like we’re […] More »

Friday Links: A rapper, creepy pencils and a whole lot of poets

This Magazine Staff

Hi I’m Ron Nurwisah, This Magazine’s Arts Editor. This is the debut of Friday Links, where I pick a handful of links that have piqued my interest this week. Without further ado. Toronto rapper K’naan has the best life story of any Canadian artist, hands down. He left Somalia in the early ’90s, didn’t speak […] More »