Up From the Underground
After three tough years representin' hip-hop Canada, Pound magazine's Rodrigo Bascu??n and Michael Evans have found commercial success. They're expanding into the U.S. and, if all goes well, moving out of Rodrigo's Mom's basement
Saddam Hussein circles Lanny McDonald, preparing to spit venom at the retired hockey player. Twirling his moustache, McDonald stares the dictator down. The Iraqi leader and the hockey legend line up head-to-head in the cipher, preparing to face off in the final round of the battle of the moustaches. They bump mikes, declaring lyrical warfare. […]
Much Much Less
Twenty years ago real journalism had regular airplay on the nation's music station. Today, however, critical commentary has been pushed aside by MuffPuff and MuchMoreFluff
Outside the CHUMCity building on Queen Street West in downtown Toronto, a crowd of people has gathered. They’re eagerly inching closer to the metal barricades that have been set up for the occasion. Wearing wristbands, some have been waiting for hours. Some cluster against the far windows. Hot breath fogs up the glass?a good indication […]
The Outsiders
Down in the back alleys of Canadian publishing, three feisty and rebellious cultural magazines are ready to rumble
Stephen Osborne can be an intimidating guy. Even some long-time members of his own staff think so. Maybe it’s the beard. With his greying whiskers, a steely, confrontational stare and a manic twinkle behind his wire-rimmed spectacles, the founding editor and publisher of Vancouver’s Geist magazine conjures a cross between the ghosts of Rasputin and […]
A Talking Contradiction
Writer-broadcaster Irshad Manji admits that she's a radical, that she's a lesbian, that she's a Muslim reformer. But don't dare label her a radical-lesbian-Muslim reformer
It’s mid-September, the height of book-promotion season, and in a dark TV studio at Toronto’s CBC building, freelance journalist Irshad Manji, stylish in leather jacket and spiky, highlighted hair, sits across from Salman Rushdie, renowned author and fatwa survivor, who is touring Canada to spread the word about his latest book, a collection of nonfiction […]
Monitoring the Media
After some static The Media File is coming through loud and clear
Vince Carlin sat in Studio T, deep in the heart of the CBC radio building in Toronto, smiling patiently. Across the table, Trent Frayne, sports columnist for The Globe and Mail, and Brian Williams, sports anchorman for CBC, exchanged one-liners while fidgeting with their headsets. In the background, the voice of Edmonton Journal sports columnist […]
Out on a Limb
Peter C. Newman's tall tree tale
Every so often even the best writers become too enchanted with a story. They are captivated, and perhaps a wish not to disturb the tale causes them to overlook any faults that might be found by less involved observers. In his book, Company of Adventurers, Peter C. Newman is at times a very enchanted writer. […]
