Canada's Debate

Earlier this year I wrote on the trials facing the newspaper, and I was not particularly generous:
True or not, my sympathy is extremely limited; for years print publications have been reducing their content to easy-to-digest fear-gasms about crime, corruption and death. Is it any surprise that we are part of a generation that doesn’t want [...]

Ok, excuse me for a moment while I get something geeky off my chest.
Battlestar Galactica recently wrapped up after a tumultuous four-year run. Much to my surprise, the finale, which I considered some of the best made television I’ve ever seen, has been met by widespread frustration. For those who haven’t seen it, [...]

The subject of the decline of traditional media (or “tradmed” for the people who spend all day at their computers, yet still think their time is too valuable to type words in their entirety) has once again become passe in Canadian and global blogging circles. Theories of course abound, with the most popular seeming to [...]

I know it’s been along time since I’ve made an appearance… I just had to come back and share some good news. Omi, a restaurant I spoke of nearly one year ago, has been reborn at Parliament and Carlton and I am atwitter at the prospect of enjoying a fine meal under John Lee’s careful [...]

When I look for quality food on a cold winter’s night (even if it is still technically fall), I almost always seek out “home cooking” style food. Now, any cuisine can feature home-cooking dishes and styles: a Japanese udon bowl, a simple Italian pasta dish, a hearty “jewish” chicken soup, an english-style breakfast, etc…
When most [...]

So the other week I wrote about the Leafs and their collective woes. Specifically I wrote about their offensive inconsistency, sloppy defense, unreliable goaltending, and staggeringly poor management. Much to my chagrin, the Leafs played a game tuesday night which demonstrated all of the team’s failings, and specifically the problems that I identified last week, [...]

Bold words I know, but it’s a fair question to consider. In the last decade the Maple Leafs have employed a series of truly horrible defensive players. Some of them went on to play well elsewhere, some of them were past their prime, and some of them just sucked out loud. I’m thinking of players [...]

Continued from yesterday.
The defense has struggled horribly, and the offense[[[link]]] has played at precisely the level you would expect. The goalies are inconsistent and overpriced, and neither is capable of either playing as a backup, or taking a starting job… I guess that just leaves me with management and coaching. It’s tough to fairly [...]

Continued from yesterday.
The defense has struggled mightily, but the offense at first glance seems to have stabilized, right? Despite being near the top of the goals-scored ledger, Toronto’s offense is still a question mark. Beyond the lofty output of Sundin (anyone who thinks he is unaffected by the team’s struggles need only look at [...]

I’ve always fancied myself a bit of a gourmet… I say bit because I’m just a touch off in the kitchen (just ask my sister), and you can’t be a real gourmet without appreciating wine- and I hate the stuff.
My dream job (I mean that literally and figuratively) is food/restaurant critic. Unfortunately, given my lack [...]

It’s been a tough month for me as a Maple Leafs fan. Anyone who knows me well knows that as much as I root for them and follow them, I hold no illusions as to the quality of the team or the operations of its management… I root for the Leafs because they’re the team [...]

In case you didn’t notice, I now have a “Green hosting” icon on my left sidebar. I mention this not to gloat or congratulate myself, but out of a nagging suspicion that it’s utter bullshit. I have no reason do disbelieve Dreamhost’s claims, but I don’t see how a giant building that’s full of [...]

Can someone explain to me what the journalistic raison d’etre is for this story, currently splashed across the front of the Toronto Star and Globe and Mail web pages? I don’t have a long post planned, because the ridiculousness of it all speaks for itself; just a few thoughts…
First, what does a reader learn from [...]

I’ve always regarded the “Letters to the Editor” section of the newspaper (any newspaper) in much the same way that people look at car wrecks. Beyond the fact that the sub-human blithering frequently bolsters me when I begin to doubt my own meagre insights of the human condition, it is extremely enjoyable to watch the [...]

I had another one of my frequent, unplanned and uncontrollable free-association daydreams this morning, while I was shaving. Ignoring the fact that this is not a good time to shave, my thoughts led me somewhere interesting. For some reason Blossom came to mind, which led me to porn, and then to a show I remember [...]