I'm writing this on Sunday evening, April 6. It seems like winter may actually be ending- we've had a couple days of rain and a day of sunshine and I've spent the day spring cleaning- sweeping and dusting and scrubbing an unused room in the hopes of turning it into an office. We'll see. I have many ambitions for projects around the house, some get done and some don't. But we're closer to this one, now.
My Week:
Downtown Developments:
I have never seen so many major changes happening in downtown Prince George as I am now. All winter, just down the street from where I work, construction crews were building the first phase of a new Delta Hotel in downtown Prince George. Now the foundation is done, work has stopped because of an undisclosed development. All the realtor will say is "it's really, really cool" and that it has something to do with an adjacent property. It's between the Prince George Public Library, which has plans for a new entrance, "knowledge garden" and facelift, and the soon-to-be vacated RCMP building which is slated to be used by the 2015 Canada Winter Games next year, with no plans announced beyond that. Meanwhile, the city just received $350,000 to upgrade the Civic Centre is getting to include more greenspace, and the still-being-built Wood Innovation and Design Centre was featured in the Economist. One thing's for sure: Prince George 2016 will be noticeably different from Prince George 2014.
Things I'm thinking about:
Chris Hadfield:
"Which contemporary artists, if their careers ended today, would definitely get into the Rock Hall? Which artists need a little help? Who is going to get snubbed?"
My Week:
- We had to say goodbye to one of our pets this week, and I wrote a piece on loss I've been ruminating on for a while. I am once again amazed at the reception it's received, including personal messages saying it's helped others with their on losses. Read it here.
- I interviewed Chris Hadfield, which you can listen to here and read more about at the bottom of this letter.
- I also spoke to the interim president of UNBC about a $400,000 reduction in the university's budget. I was interested to learn that one of the major losses has been from less students coming north than in previous years. The discussion on the value of university degrees in an era when there is so much focus on trades also came up. Read/listen here.
- CFUR Radio is creating a northern B.C. Audio Archives, and every once in a while we check in with Karl Domes (one of the project leaders) about what he's unearthed. This week he had a fantastic piece of ghost town vinyl- you can hear a selection from it at the end of our interview.
- The city of Prince George is spending a record $9.8 million on road repair, so I decided to Google some other things that cost $9.8 million. Among them: the Ontario Soccer Association, the Prime Minister's security detail in 2007/08, and the expansion of the Dollar Shave Club to Canada. Full list.
Downtown Developments:
I have never seen so many major changes happening in downtown Prince George as I am now. All winter, just down the street from where I work, construction crews were building the first phase of a new Delta Hotel in downtown Prince George. Now the foundation is done, work has stopped because of an undisclosed development. All the realtor will say is "it's really, really cool" and that it has something to do with an adjacent property. It's between the Prince George Public Library, which has plans for a new entrance, "knowledge garden" and facelift, and the soon-to-be vacated RCMP building which is slated to be used by the 2015 Canada Winter Games next year, with no plans announced beyond that. Meanwhile, the city just received $350,000 to upgrade the Civic Centre is getting to include more greenspace, and the still-being-built Wood Innovation and Design Centre was featured in the Economist. One thing's for sure: Prince George 2016 will be noticeably different from Prince George 2014.
Things I'm thinking about:
- Profanity. Earlier this year, I had a bit of a dilemma when producing a radio piece that dealt explicitly with the use of racially-charged language by city council in Prince George back in the 1920s. Ultimately, I decided not to say the word but not before a lot of back-and-forth. So I've been interested to see the past week unfold with lots of think-pieces on profanity. Matt Gemmell says, "Swearing isn't bad language. Swearing is essential language." And he uses it to demonstrate his point. In the New York Times Jesse Sheidlower writes, "It's time to print exactly what we mean," and talks about the differences between North American media and Europe when it comes to offensive terminology on Q where we also hear from an editor who defends being "coy" about bad language. Finally, Michael Enright recalls two generations of Trudeaus presenting the media a problem by dropping "F-bombs."
- Clickbait. I am among those who gets frustrated about the Buzzfeed/Upworthy/ViralNova formulas for writing headlines ("Ten Things That Will Make You Angry About Headlines" "At First I Thought This Article Would Be OK. What I Saw Next Blew My Mind.") But as someone who writes things for the internet, I am interested in writing headlines that get clicks. And maybe that's OK. In this piece, Tim Marchman argues that calling something clinkbait is akin to telling someone "You published something, and want people to read it, too."
- Taxes. In Quesnel, city council used a $582,942 budget surplus to reduce taxes by 0.5%. In the comments on this story, a number of people lament that this isn't happening in Prince George, but one suggests the city would be better served by using the money to create some form of public project. It reminds me of an article I read recently in the Walrus called "Happy Returns", in which Timothy Taylor argues that our obsession with cutting taxes is a failure to see ourselves as part of a society working for public good, rather than just a group of individuals looking to make a buck.
- Unpaid Internships. Speaking of the Walrus, they just got in trouble for using unpaid interns. One of the magazine's (now departed) co-founders agrees with the move, asking "If half your staff is unpaid, what kind of office is that?" Meanwhile, one of those unpaid interns writes in defence of unpaid internships, clarifying, "I'm not an idiot."
- Volunteers. Speaking of the public good, the Elks Parade in Prince George has been cancelled for 2014. Neil Godbout writes that the decline of interest in service clubs indicates, in his view, is a decline in people's interest to volunteer for anything that doesn't benefit them directly. "In other words, the volunteering is more personal or more selfish, depending on your standpoint."
A counterpoint, from a friend of mine on Facebook: "It's true that I am not a Rotarian or an Elk, but I volunteer and am vested in our community, I know of the parks and facilities these service clubs have given us. Volunteering with service clubs may be down, but rather than an accusation of selfish and self interested volunteerism, what if we have a conversation about what these service clubs can do to appeal to a generation and a community of volunteers."
The impact of the Rotarians and the Elks and the like on our community is easy to find on park benches, soccer clubs, water parks, and more. I'm curious what will replace them if they go away, and I'm interested in what that conversation would look like. Given their role, it's probably an important one to have.
Finally, can I please recommend you read the blogs of Dezene Huber and Tariq Piracha? They have nothing in common, really, except they are insightful writers who make me interested in their topics even when they are topics I wouldn't normally be interested in.
Coming Up:
- If you are considering riding a bike this summer (if you are not, I am preparing a few reasons why you should), there is a Bike Swap this coming Saturday. Good prices, and a chance to learn a bit more about bike maintenance, as well.
- I warned you: there are apparently just a few tickets left for the Black Spruce Bog show at the Westwood on April 18. Grab them fast.
- Also, the Derek Joyce/Rosewood's Diary joint album release is April 19.
- Earlier this year, I took part in Prince George's first PechaKucha night. PechaKucha is simple: you get 20 slides, each of which lasts for 20 seconds. It was a good challenge, and I'm glad I did it even though I completely messed up my timing. The second night has been set for May 13 at the Twisted Cork with the theme of "Food for Thought." I hope you'll consider taking part- you can learn more here.
- Jeremy Stewart is a musician/poet/author who has done much to build the arts scene in this community. He recently left his steady paycheque to pursue other projects, among them putting together Casse-Téte Volume 2. The event will be from June 13-15, and I hear rumours a piano will be smashed. Add it to your calendar here.
Chris Hadfield:
When I was six years old I wanted to be an astronaut. I'm not really sure why, since it doesn't match with my personality, and by the time I was in grade one I'd already moved on to wanting to be a writer or cartoonist. So I'm among the many people who are interested in what motivates Chris Hadfield, the world's most famous astronaut. When I found out he was coming to Prince George I immediately emailed his people to book him as a guest on Daybreak, and this week I was lucky enough to have a ten-minute conversation with him about fame, Russia, why bungee jumping isn't worth the risk, and what dead pine trees in northern British Columbia look like from outer space. You can listen to the full thing here. The bungee jumping thing in particular interests me, because it seems Hadfield looks at risks in a similar way to me: I always ask "if I were to die doing this, would it be worthwhile?" The difference between Hadfield and I is that he thinks going to space is a worthwhile risk, I don't think I do. But I am fascinated by the perspectives he brings back.
I was also among those who lined up the next day to see him in person at the Exploration Place. The event started at 11:30, I was there at 11:33 and was number 253 in the line. Apparently some people had actually been there at 7, even though the museum doesn't open until 9. It was a real cross-section of people: moms with kids, university-aged people, middle agers, retirees. As the director of the museum exclaimed "All these people for a scientist!" Best parts: the mom who told her kid "You better remember this when I'm a little old lady", the guy who brought his guitar and was given a "space pick", the point when time was up and Hadfield announced he would start moving through the line at maximum speed in order to accommodate everyone, and the awesome scarf worn by his son. Anyway, here's a picture of me with him because it exists:
More links you may enjoy:
Be sure to check the date this was published. I had this idea a couple years ago, glad to see it well-executed.
"Ms. Ton cites one study of a 500-store retailer that found every additional $1 spent on employee salareies resulted in an increase of anywhere from $4 to $28 in sales."
"A hundred years ago, saying that women shouldn’t be allowed to vote was a “political view”. Now, that would be a ridiculous and highly offensive opinion regardless of what any religion or political party said on the topic. Most discriminating “political views” of this sort eventually become widely recognized as unacceptable, barbaric bigotry with no place in civilized society — it’s just a matter of time."Kill 'Em All
"If you could wipe mosquitoes off the face of the planet, would you?"The Best Can Opener
We own two. Completely agree.
Yes, it is.
I've never really listened to early early Guess Who. Good stuff.
Awesome.
"If you don't read the newspaper, you're uninformed. If you read the newspaper, you're misinformed."
We are the Comic Sans Defenders. We fear no font and will make the whole world Comic Sans.
If you don't know what "Hatread," "Doge", and "Scoop, If True" mean, this is an essential guide to the lexicon of our times.
