Opinion
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Lest we forget
Lately, it seems like every day brings news of another celebrity death. It started in June with David Carradine. Since then, Arturo Gatti, Billy Mays, Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, Koko Taylor, Michael Jackson and the Taco Bell dog have all gone to join the Great Gig in the Sky.
So let’s take a moment to remember the Flin Flon grow-op. -
Looking out for a Little Scrapper
Sunshine may be sparse in Winnipeg this summer, but festivals certainly are not. The Winnipeg Folk Festival and Winnipeg Fringe Festival had record years proving that regardless of the weather, Winnipeggers are still determined to have a good time.
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How to raise voter turnout, English-style
If you’ve ever sat in on a discussion with a group of political theorists, you know that sooner or later the discussion will turn towards electoral reform.
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Profitability trumps watchability
The King of Pop died on June 25 and by the end of the week, questions of mental instability and surgically altered pigmentation were of the hour.
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Lost Winnipeg
Old Market Square, the place in the Exchange to go for historically-themed walking tours, free concerts of dubious quality, or some great people watching (“Hipster or Hobo?” is always a fun game), is actually not that old at all. Built in the 1970s on the site of the old Central Fire Hall as a farmer‘s market and green space, the “Old” was thrown in to add some quaint venerability to the place. The original Market Square was a block north, now buried underneath the Public Safety Building and Civic Parkade.
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Only the devil wants you to see
OK, so I’ve been skirting around the issue for long enough; every week writing about something even more inane than the last, completely ignoring what I’ve really been wanting to talk about until now. I cannot however, continue to bite my tongue any longer, for fear that I might bite it clean off and then have to explain to the emergency doctor how I came to bite off my tongue — not an easy task without a tongue.
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Lost Winnipeg
Do you love learning about our city’s past as much as we do? As part of a four part summer series, Robert Galston, author of local blog The Rise and Sprawl, will examine neighbourhoods’ transitions over the past century, up until the most recent 2006 Census. In May he took a look at South Point Douglas, and in June he visited Roslyn Road and the beautiful homes which once lined the street. This month, we learn about Lord Selkirk Park, a neighbourhood in the North End.
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Crying wolf over gentrification
It’s a coup de grâce. The West End is finally and veritably improving and much, but very importantly not all, of the positive changes stem from various recent University of Winnipeg expansions. After years of planning and anticipation these positive changes are becoming reality, from the new Furby/Langside Campus to the recently announced board approval of the redevelopment of the former United Army Surplus and Greyhound bus depot sites (see page 3). Yet it is dishearteningly predictable that those who take the most ambiguous of stances on this issue are products of the university itself.
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The king of what? Pedophile jokes?
Just in case you haven’t heard, a pretty famous celebrity died recently. Practically born into the spotlight, Michael Jackson was the good weird as he rose to fame. Different, talented, sexy and marketable, he declared himself the King of Pop to the world after the commercial ground making accomplishments of Off The Wall, Bad and Thriller.
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Killing women’s rights in 140 characters or less
There are few things in the world funnier than hearing that yet another politician has been caught with their foot rammed squarely into their mouth. It’s not as if it is a rare feat anymore, either – it seems like almost every other week some elected official says something to land them in hot water.
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Ignatieff’s summertime blues
Summer is a strange time for federal politics in Canada. Since Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff opted for the popular choice and refrained from forcing a summer election over a paltry disagreement with his Conservative counterparts over employment insurance legislation, Canadians will be without the sometimes-depraved and often hackneyed ruminations of the brutes from the House of Commons until the fall.
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Liberals blowing their party to bits
I can hear the fireworks. The sound is nearly rattling the walls of my little home in the federal riding of Winnipeg South Center. It is Canada Day, a day marking the confederation of this land into a united country. Celebration is abounding for a country that is, because of the freedom it grants and, ultimately, the stability and comfort it provides, the best place in the world. And yet I can’t help but notice my surroundings.
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Murderers in plain sight
Hey everybody, I’m back again with some good and evil for you all. This week I want to talk about something very dangerous that affects us all, but that very few people actually know about.
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Lost Winnipeg
Since the incorporation of the City of Winnipeg in 1873, the city’s wealthy neighbourhoods have developed in a south-westerly direction, away from Point Douglas, where in the 1870s and ‘80s the young and scrappy assortment of Ontario Protestants who would form the city’s “commercial elite” had lived. Moving to Broadway at the close of the 19th century, they had by 1911 crossed Assiniboine River to Roslyn Road in what is today called Osborne Village.
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Falling down doesn’t have to equal failure
F is a letter that is not often found in classrooms today, and soon it won’t be found at all if our educational systems continue to degrade their standards.
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She dreamed a dream that became a nightmare
What would you do if the world fell in love with you for doing what you dream? And then what if those same people suddenly turned against you, how would you react?
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Harper’s confusing Senate policies
In the role of Opposition, political parties are often committed to fundamental reform of government. For instance, consider the NDP/Green Party position on electoral reform, the Reform Party position on Senate reform or, looking further back, the Progressive Conservative position on the evils of political patronage. However, when the Opposition party becomes federal government, reform is trumped by political necessity.
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Unicorns would kill and then mount you if given the chance
Hi. I’m J. Williamez. Like me, I’m sure you’ve all noticed that there’s been a lot of talk lately in the media and in popular culture about unicorns. This week, in Good and Evil I’d like to dispel some of the most common myths about unicorns, while at the same time, sharing some interesting and little known facts about these majestic yet tragically misunderstood creatures.
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Conservatives plagued by semblance of unification
We live in a culture where uniformed punditry is considered a virtue. The mass media grant many individuals the implicit expertise required to opine the daily news and their “informed” opinions are often merely speculations about the partisan and ideological elements of governance. The modern Canadian columnist is, more often than not, uninterested in policy.
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Province’s art scene continues to decline
Winnipeg is a city of festivals.
The year begins with the New Music Festival hosted by the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. This is immediately followed by the Master Playwright Festival. Things settle down for awhile – but then summer arrives and all hell breaks loose.