August 2012

Elise’s Last Day

This summer our newsroom grew from 3 to 4 people with the addition of Blackburn London’s paid summer news intern.  That person is Elise Copps-Smith and today is her last day as she goes back to Fanshawe College to finish her course.  …

I Wish

Sears’ 60th Christmas Wish Book is out. Oh how I remember the excitement of seeing that annual catalogue for the first time with its as-yet-unpawed, crisp pages. That was just last year.  …

Change in Strategy

My goodness this whole ebook world is an education!  I’ve come to the conclusion that I don’t need to learn how to navigate Apple’s specific and special way of dealing with its iBooks store in order to make The Naked Truth available to anyone who wants it.  And that decision has taken a huge weight, about the size of a Mac computer, off my shoulders.  …

To The Moon, Alice

When Ralph Kramden threatened his wife Alice with, “to the moon”, it was 14 years before a human being would actually set foot on that planet.  The silly TV catch-phrase was thought so over the top and ridiculous because that’s how people thought of the possibility that anyone would visit the moon.  Then in 1969, Neil Armstrong was the first to do it.  How freaking incredible was that?   …

The Missing Link

A couple of years ago I wrote in this space about not understanding Linked In.  It’s a networking website where people link to other people for professional reasons.  They could be in a similar line of work, the same city, or simply want to hook into the other person’s contacts in hopes of expanding their contacts. I used to be skeptical of the website until a young, smart guy who’s dating a young, smart colleague of mine said that turning down an invitation to “link” is like turning your back to someone who says Hi at a networking function.  …

Get a Real Job

More labour unrest is in the offing at college campuses over 28 issues including the instructors’ displeasure at being told how to teach.  Public school system teachers are miffed at being told they have to sign a contract that freezes their wages for 2 years and stops them from banking any more vacation days to cash out at retirement. MPPs are headed back to work Monday to debate the bill. Employees at the Big Three are holding out for a share of profits now that things have turned around and there actually are profits they say should be shared.  …

Women Have Poise

There are times when a woman over 40 feels like a Who down on the speck whom only Horton the elephant can hear in the Dr Seuss classic Horton Hears a Who. “We are here, we are here, we are here!”  …

Sexist Ways

Bear with me while I randt a bit about a current Hollywood scandal.  I don’t really care that 22 year old Kristen Stewart slept with her 41 year old director behind the backs of both her live-in boyfriend, actor Robert Pattinson, and the director’s wife and kids.  I only care because of the fallout.   …

Everyone Doesn’t Love Marineland

When my brother and I were kids we used to joke that we were on a first-name basis with the animals at Marineland.  Living just a short drive from Niagara Falls, out of province or out of country relatives would expect to spend a day at the theme park when they visited.  Most kids were over the moon to go to Marineland.  We liked it well enough but it got to be kind of routine for us.   …

Spam of the Summer

The spammers have been incredibly busy lately.  On recent Saturday morning I woke up to 120 spam messages disguised as comments on this website. This is why there’s an approval system for comments.     …

The Chess Game: Radio

Here in London, one of the most competitive radio markets in the country, you can tell that fall ratings are almost upon us.  In Toronto radio stations are now rated by People Meters but here we still go by the old spring/fall ratings periods and this fall is going to have more changes than any season in years.   …