Building a Better Media

 Here's Your Local News, This Is My Job
Aug 132011
 

Recently, I asked my Tweeter crew to share their ideas for what type of journalism they’d like to see more of in Manitoba. Some people wanted to see more positive news stories coming out of Winnipeg. Luc Lewandoski (if that is his real name*) suggested more in-depth profiles of our local powerbrokers — which tweaked my interest. It sort of reminded me of About Face, a really cute mag they publish in Portland (have I mentioned yet that everything good comes from Portland?) featuring interviews with cultural, culinary and community leaders. I perused it last time I was there and liked the idea — and I [...click for more...]

Share
 Posted by at 1:21 pm  22 Responses »  Tagged with: ,

Love Letter to the Village

 Here's Your Local News, Odes to Winnipeg
Aug 102011
 

“My retort to you,” he said, “Is, ‘so go blog about it.’” Yeah, maybe I will. On the night it happened I heard the cracks. A sharp triplet of shocks and a rat-tat-tat echo, enough to make me flinch. Firecrackers, probably, but these sounded different: there’s always firecrackers somewhere outside my window, somewhere in the ragged back lane that steeps the hidden Osborne Village life. I know firecrackers. This was something else. I heard the yelling too, a muffled angry din and a single female shout. I shrugged, and straightened myself on the couch. Another bar brawl. I am familiar [...click for more...]

Share
 Posted by at 8:38 pm  10 Responses »  Tagged with: , ,

Forever Twenty-Winnipeg: Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love The Store-Opening Hype

 Odes to Winnipeg, This Is My Job
Mar 122011
 

Oh look Winnipeg, another store opened today! And as you can see from my grainy Blackberry pic, it was utter madness inside Polo Park Mall, where over 1,000 people piled in starting at 2 a.m. for the privilege of being, uh, the first 1,000 people allowed in our mammoth new Forever 21:   We’ve had a lot of Big Store Openings, and announcements of future Big Store Openings, in the last year, haven’t we?   And every time, some Winnipeggers get pumped. And when some Winnipeggers get pumped, other Winnipeggers get understandably disappointed. All this fuss for a store opening? How embarassing. How [...click for more...]

Share
 Posted by at 6:57 pm  10 Responses »  Tagged with: ,

Healthy Burgers for a Happy Village

 Odes to Winnipeg
Mar 022011
 

A Tweet today alerted me to the looming arrival of Unburger, which will take the place of the now-shuttered Right There! Korean restaurant on the corner of Stradbrook and Osborne. We don’t know what Unburger is. We don’t know exactly what it will serve. We don’t know if it will be as stupendous as Sherbrook Street’s sublime Boon Burger. All we know about Unburger, is that it’s somehow “un,” and that Kyle is in charge. (Hi Kyle!) Hey, that’s enough info for me to get damn excited — because maybe this Unburger is going to undo Osborne Village’s fast-food problem. After a decade [...click for more...]

Share
 Posted by at 11:15 pm  7 Responses »  Tagged with: ,

No, Really, There’s Nothing In Winnipeg.

 Odes to Winnipeg
Feb 102011
 

Over on Twitter, Ryan Reyes noted: Most don’t realize #Winnipeg has a deep pool of local talent. We have to overcome our inferiority-complex. Thoughts? It’s a good question. So good, in fact, that asking it has spilled enough ink in this city to repaint the Exchange. I started writing about arts and entertainment in this city in 1999. This issue of overcoming our inferiority complex was top o’ many people’s minds back then. I have been assured it was top o’ many people’s minds well before then, too. This inferiority complex even inspired the name of this blog. And it’s obviously on [...click for more...]

Share
 Posted by at 2:32 am  7 Responses »  Tagged with: ,

Raining Cats and Dogs, But Sadly Not Money

 Musings
Jan 132011
 

When times get tough, animals are often the first to feel the belt tighten. In Winnipeg, shelters have taken a big hit in the last two years, forcing  some to cut back services, Lindsey Wiebe reported today. For the record: as someone who has absolutely no shame referring to my two cats as my daughters, this story yanks my heartstrings, hard. But the story is also useful in illustrating why antipathy to animal shelters that perform euthanasia is not a practical, nor a useful, or even a particularly pro-animal perspective. As a wacky cat lady in training, I’m not unsympathetic towards this position. When I [...click for more...]

Share
 Posted by at 11:54 am  Comments Off  Tagged with: ,

The Lifeline

 This Is My Job
Jan 052011
 

A post, a post tonight for a broken heart, but I digress, all hearts are broken and mended in time, yes? So it was fitting today that Daniel called me. Daniel is in his late-60s. He is paraplegic. He was in the hospital, for a long time. Now he is in a care home, somewhere in Winnipeg. Daniel is lonely. He’s allowed an hour of phone time every day. And every time he can, he calls me. Students, take note: this is the part of journalism that nobody prepares you for, that nobody ever mentions. There are people in the world [...click for more...]

Share
 Posted by at 12:10 am  2 Responses »  Tagged with:

Ode to Winnipeg No. 1: Scritcha-scritcha

 Odes to Winnipeg
Nov 262010
 

On the deepest, darkest nights of the deepest, darkest winters, step outside, hold your breath and stand quite still.  If you’re really truly silent, and really truly still, tinkling through the crisp and quiet, you’ll hear the sound of car scrapers scraping.

Share
 Posted by at 6:37 pm  Comments Off  Tagged with: , ,