Politics
Where were we? Oh yes. Torture.
March 10, 2010 · Leave a Comment
By Alison@Creekside On Friday Justice Minister Rob Nicholson announced the government was appointing Frank Iacobucci, a former Supreme Court judge with no legal hold over them, to determine what documents pertaining to the Afghan detainee issue could be released without compromising national security, national defence, and/or international relations. The scope and terms of Iacobucci’s appointment are not known and he will report directly to Nicholson. A number of bloggers have already weighed in on Iacobucci’s suitability to the task. Steve at Far and Wide in particular points to Iacobucci... [Read the full story]
Living
8.8. And that’s not an Olympics score
February 28, 2010 · 2 Comments
By Jodi A. Shaw For the last week, Canadians have been shaking with excitement over Canada’s triumphs in the Olympics in Vancouver. And over the past few days, I’ve found it difficult to have a conversation with anyone that doesn’t involve talking about hockey. Today at the grocery store a complete stranger cornered me in the produce section to share excitement about Canada’s gold medal win in hockey. “We won!” Her grin made me pretty uncomfortable. “Horrible news about Chile,” I said, “just awful.” Obviously, I’m not much... [Read the full story]
Media
Pairs skating: the CBC and the National Post
February 23, 2010 · Leave a Comment
By Frank Moher Hmm. What is this doing on the website of our public broadcaster? Vancouver protestors fall silent. The article I have linked to on the CBC site is a product of its agreement with The National Post to jointly cover the Olympics. It appeared in the Post first, and from there was syndicated to the website they have collaboratively created for the games, Vancouver Now. As a piece of reporting, it is precisely what we expect from The National Post: a commingling of news and political purpose — in this case to deride the Olympic protest movement. It does so using the usual tactics:... [Read the full story]
Arts and Books
Rescued from the scrapheap
February 24, 2010 · Leave a Comment
THE LIFE & ART OF FRANK MOLNAR, JACK HARDMAN, LEROY JENSEN By Eve Lazarus, Claudia Cornwall, Wendy Newbold Patterson Mother Tongue Publishing 146 pp., $34.95 Review by Brian Brennan Frank Molnar, Jack Hardman, and LeRoy Jensen were three dedicated and unfashionably tradition-based Vancouver artists of the 1960s who today are largely forgotten. Because they operated outside the confines of the exclusionary and restrictive Vancouver art establishment, their contributions are known only to a handful of collectors, fellow artists, and former students. However, thanks to the efforts of a gutsy... [Read the full story]
Features
Todd Butler’s Act Two
January 9, 2010 · Leave a Comment
“Nimble-fingered maniac” Todd Butler makes the leap from concert stage to the theatrical kind ~~ By Jan Beecher ~~ On a gentle west coast evening, Todd Butler is opening the Islands Folk Festival at Providence Farm near Duncan, BC. I have just arrived along with a thousand or so other people for a weekend of music and festival-like festivities. It’s Butler’s job to get the show started and get the crowd “in the mood,” and he does it extremely well. By the end of his set a full audience has gathered and we are dancing, clapping to the beat and, of course, laughing. Butler is... [Read the full story]
Olympics
Mittens, love gloves and other Olympics memories
March 3, 2010 · Leave a Comment
By Bev Schellenberg The Olympics are over, but the memorabilia is here to stay. Vanoc reported that, by midway through the 2010 Games, it had already reached its $50 million sales goal, double the amount that merchandising brought in through the entire 2006 Winter Olympics. Three million cute red Olympic mittens alone were sold by the Hudson’s Bay Co. A few days before the closing ceremonies, a friend of mine and I watched a woman enact a scene reminiscent of Cinderella’s stepsisters with the golden slipper. Standing by the last remaining bin of Olympic mittens, children’s size small, she... [Read the full story]
Culture
Sandra Bullock, my new BFF
By Rachel Krueger Sandy B clearly expected to walk home with a shiny gold man on Sunday, rocking a metallic Oscary dress and buffing her hair to a high Oscary sheen, and it comes as no surprise to the guess-makers and sayers-of-things-about-movies that she made good on her nom for Best Actress. But as honorable a...
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Technology
Jet pack? NOT!
By Eric Pettifor Where is my jet pack? It has been the future now for at least 10 years, or so it seems from the perspective of someone who was alive when men landed on the moon for the first time. Some might say that was the beginning of the future. After all the 1958 edition of an encyclopedia I grew up with promised...
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Arts and Books
THE LIFE & ART OF FRANK MOLNAR, JACK HARDMAN, LEROY JENSEN By Eve Lazarus, Claudia...
WHAT THE FURIES BRING By Kenneth Sherman The Porcupine’s Quill 170 pages; $19.95 Review...
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Living
8.8. And that’s not an Olympics score
By Jodi A. Shaw For the last week, Canadians have been shaking with excitement over...
Alone on Valentine’s day? Boo-frigging-hoo.
By Jodi A. Shaw Most romantic holiday of the year, hey? Valentine’s Day is more...
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