This Magazine articles from September 2005

This Magazine archives from September 2005

Tish tosh.(LETTERS)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2005... I absolutely loved Richard Poplak's "Fear and loathing in toontown" (May/June), but I too spent the bulk of my Saturday mornings in front of the television, and I must set the record straight. Chip 'n' Dale were the loathsome, childish...

Female complaints, Part 2.(LETTERS)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2005... In "Feminism for sale" (May/June), Joseph Heath and Andrew Potter critique feminism with an unknown theory of social change. If we are not to use patriarchy to explain what happens to women, what power analysis would they propose? I take...

Picky choosers.(LETTERS)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2005... The content of "Your money, your choice" (May/June) belies the title. Do you believe in choice or do you not? If you are pro-choice, you should support the right for all people and organizations, as long as they are not breaking any laws, to...

Welcome and good luck.(LETTERS)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2005... Unfortunately, $8 hourly wages, multiple jobs and joining the army are the only options for the average American like Darrell Anderson ("Survival instinct," May/June). America is not a healthy place to live and raise children, contrary to...

Correction.(LETTERS)(Correction notice)
September 1, 2005... In our July/August issue, page 10, "A Taste of Things to Come" by Ron Nurwisah, the photo caption read: "Sam Higgs and Maria Solakofski sample thyme flowers in Solakofski's front garden." The subjects were sampling sage, not thyme. We apologize...

Cry me a river.(THIS & THAT)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2005... THE LIGHTS ARE OUTSIDE MY WINDOW again. It's 4 a.m. and an emergency vehicle outfitted with a loudspeaker is blaring, "Do not drink the water. Do not bathe until further notice." I'm 13 years old and my greatest fear at this moment is: how,...

Balance the books: Joanna Chapman demands returns from local government.(THIS & THAT: INFORMATION, INSIGHT & INNOVATION)
September 1, 2005... As if on cue, an elderly man opens the door of Chapman Books in Dundas, Ontario, and approaches the owner. "You don't know me," he begins, "but I'm an admirer of yours. I may be a pensioner, but I'd like to help out," he continues, reaching...

Situation normal, all FNUCed up.(THIS & THAT: INFORMATION, INSIGHT & INNOVATION)(First Nations University of Canada)
September 1, 2005... On July 5, a small convoy led by Charles Pratt glided along the third-floor hallway of the First Nations University of Canada's (FNUC) Saskatoon campus, straight towards the dean's office. Once there, Pratt, the university president, handed his...

Seizing Savage Harbour.(THIS & THAT: INFORMATION, INSIGHT & INNOVATION)
September 1, 2005... Ten years ago, Gordon Mosher left a steady job as a carpenter to head to the water. He leased 33 acres of aquatic space, built his own boat and began a modest living as a mussel harvester on Prince Edward Island's northeast coast. "My father...

This is your fish on drugs.(causes of)
September 1, 2005... Have you ever wondered what happens to the shampoo and soap that rinse down the drain when you bathe? What about the Tylenol you flush down the toilet because it passed its expiry date? The answers to these questions may be more startling than...

Outwest: the other rodeo in Calgary.(licensing )
September 1, 2005... Days after Canada passed the highly controversial Bill C-38, at that time becoming one of only three countries in the world to legally sanction same-sex marriage, Calgary played host to the one and only gay rodeo in Canada. Surprising indeed,...

A new kind of war: Alberta stages Exercise Maple Flag.(THIS & THAT: INFORMATION, INSIGHT & INNOVATION)
September 1, 2005... Each year, Cold Lake, Alberta, hosts one of the world's largest air force training operations, with some 5,000 crew members from 11 countries. The 11,600 square kilometre range--about half the size of Israel--is scattered with mock targets so...

What's the frequency, CanCon?(MEDIA)(Canadian content)
September 1, 2005... HOW THE WEST WAS WON COULD JUST AS EASILY HAVE been called How the West Was Lost, for the conquest of every new land inevitably involves losers as well as winners. Satellite radio is Canada's latest electronic frontier about to be liberated, or...

Let them eat pie; who gets seconds with economic growth?(ECONOMICS)
September 1, 2005... WANT TO SEE AN ECONOMIST SQUIRM? ASK US THE BIG QUEStions. If you keep economists busy with the minutiae of obscure calculations, we are quite content. But ask us those really deep questions, and, well, ummmm, is it hot in here, or is it just...

The Alberta good: a progressive, prosperous province giddies up.
September 1, 2005... If you pay much attention to Canada's national news media, you've probably come to a couple of conclusions about Alberta and Albertans: One, that we're filthy stinking rich, with tycoons in top hats wandering the streets, lighting...

It's my province and I'll cry if I want to: the Government of Alberta spent $16.5 million on events to mark the province's centennial. But in the back alleys of her hometown of Calgary, activist and author Karen Connelly found desperation, not celebration.
September 1, 2005... I DID NOT CELEBRATE THE ALBERTA CENTENNIAL. THIS isn't because Alberta has treated me poorly. On the contrary, I was lucky to be born here and I love coming back. I've lived all over Canada and in half a dozen other countries, but when I...

Sweeping it under: Our grimy Great Lakes: the dirty secrets of the Canadian shipping industry's cleanup practices.
September 1, 2005... The dirtiest job on the ship was understandably the one Jim Macdonald dreaded most. During his years as chief engineer for Canada Steamship Lines (CSL), aboard carriers including the CSL Tadoussac, Macdonald oversaw the offloading of 25,000...

Offered, wanted, taken: imagine a cross-border, 24-hour garage sale where everything is marked "Free." Who tends this market? Kelly McCarthy-Maine probes the political coups of online recycling groups.
September 1, 2005... CHARMAINE JENSEN ANSWERS THE PHONE tersely, a hint of suspicion in her voice. She remains guarded for the first few minutes of our conversation, keeping her answers to my initial questions to one or two words. At one point, I grow concerned...

Hum and drone.(Fictional work)
September 1, 2005... I learned to do the bee dance when I was very young. The hive was at the end of the garden, away from the swing set and slide my dad spent two weekends building. There was a line of trees and a cluster of bushes delineating property lines;...

Winter vista.(POETRY)(Poem)
September 1, 2005... Winter vista These short winter mornings. The early hours when even the clocks have little to do, leaning against the walls with fidgety hands. I glance outside and see bare winter trees ...

The dog woke up.(Poem)
September 1, 2005... The dog woke up and stretched his legs. But I'm not a dog, the dog said. I'm a human being. The dog took a shower, ate some breakfast, and drove to work. Please stop calling me a dog, the dog said. You're giving people the wrong impression....

Odd-Sized Screws Kept in a Drawer.(Poem)
September 1, 2005... Odd-Sized Screws Kept In A Drawer The traffic sparkles and glints under the sun, cameras flashing at a special event. The world drains the window's glass with one long gulp. Grasstrumpets sway in the earth's orchestra. ...

Flower shop.(Poem)
September 1, 2005... Flower shop An old woman pushing a stroller paused in front of a flower shop. She stood on her own dark shadow as if it was a bridge she was afraid to cross. I'm not sure what went through her...

The Sea Never Drowns.(Poem)
September 1, 2005... The Sea Never Drowns Clouds in the sky don't know that they're clouds, stones in the path go wherever they're kicked. I don't expect to win prizes for being myself. The traffic driving home sounds like the traffic ...

Postcard from a parking lot.(Poem)
September 1, 2005... Postcard from a parking lot We're having a wonderful time. It's so quiet and peaceful. The summer dust silently drifts through the late evening light like coins in an out-of-order jukebox. Last night we...

Playing poker with Robert Bly.(Jason Heroux)(Interview)
September 1, 2005... Jason Heroux lives in Kingston, where he writes poetry and works as a civil servant. His poems have appeared in literary journals in Canada, the US, Belgium, England, Ireland and India, as well as in the anthology Breathing Fire 2: Canada's New...

Off the map: Antonia Hirsch challenges the politics of cartography.(ARTS & IDEAS: THIS IS INDEPENDENT CULTURE)
September 1, 2005... When something you take for granted changes, you notice. In the reflection of your face, or a map of the world, just a little difference can make you look twice. Antonia Hirsch is a master at provoking that second glance. A Vancouver-based...

The Empire of Mind: Digital Piracy and the Anti-Capitalist Movement.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 1, 2005... The Empire of Mind: Digital Piracy and the Anti-Capitalist Movement by Michael Strangelove (University of Toronto Press) Michael Strangelove asks readers who doubt the influence of the marketplace on our lives to arrange a romantic dinner...

American Standard/Canada Dry.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 1, 2005... American Standard/Canada Dry by Stephen Cain (Coach House Books) A third poetry book by Stephen Cain, American Standard/Canada Dry, interrogates language itself, and infiltrates and challenges our national identities and borders. In a...

Dyke type: Anne Fleming ponders the Ins of Out writing.(ARTS ARGUMENT)(Interview)
September 1, 2005... BEING A QUEER WRITER IS HARDLY AN unusual thing in the small press world. I can always count on rubbing up against a fellow 'too at book fairs or readings. I write about queers and non-queers and hope that what matters is the quality of the...

True north beats and rhymes.(hip-hop music)(Brief article)
September 1, 2005... The past 25 years have seen hip-hop music journey far from the New York streets where it was born. People of all backgrounds have embraced the music, the fashion and the attitude and major retailers package these elements and sell them as a...

Sweatshop Union, United We Fall.(Sound recording review)
September 1, 2005... Sweatshop Union, United We Fall (Battleaxe/EMI) "Once you open your eyes, there ain't no going back to closing your mind," raps Mos Eisley on "Lead the Way," one of 15 highly intelligent and defiantly political tracks on Sweatshop Union's...

The Quartertones, Hidden in Plain Sight.(Sound recording review)
September 1, 2005... The Quartertones, Hidden In Plain Sight (URBNet Records) Anyone who doubts the validity of hip hop as a truly musical movement should check out this debut disc by Toronto's Quartertones. There are a couple of rap verses and soulful hooks in...

It's a rap! Sixtoo's music explores the cinematic state of hip hop.(ARTS & IDEAS: THIS INDEPENDENT CULTURE)(Rob Squire)(Interview)
September 1, 2005... CANADIAN MUSIC TODAY IS BASKING IN A SPIRIT OF COLLABOration, with independent record labels fostering side projects between label-mates and prominent musical collectives. It's as though the philosophy of hip hop has permeated rock, for long...

Fear and self-loathing in Manitoba: l'Atelier national du Manitoba finds beauty in Winnipeg's cultural cast-offs.(QUESTION AUTHORITY)(Discussion)
September 1, 2005... ARMED WITH A LOVE OF EXPERIMENTAL FILM AND LITERALLY MILES OF LOCALLY produced videotape, I'Atelier national du Manitoba founders Walter Forsberg and Matthew Rankin have made it their duty to dig up and preserve the most ignored, maligned and...