ezra winton

Opting out of phone spam just got easier

Posted by in Mediactivism

I was as thrilled as anyone else when the Canadian government announced their proposed bill to dampen phone spam (unsolicited phone calling) to Canadians a couple of years back. I was then very disappointed, but not all that surprised to learn that there was a loophole allowing many companies to be “exempt” from the opt-out list, effectively taking much of the wind out of the legislative sails. Then along came Michael Geist. Media activist and newspaper columnist Geist has created a new website where Canadians can, in three simple steps,…read more

Mar.29
1

A Simple Curve

Posted by in Broadsides

I recently had the pleasure of watching a Canadian fiction feature that has come out on DVD in the last year. Thank the film gods that there are independent video stores like Montreal’s Boite Noir, or I may have never discovered the little gem called A Simple Curve. The fim’s plot is suggested in the title – a tidy little arc about a father and son living in British Columbia’s absolutely stunning Slocan valley. The son, played by Kris Lemche, is growing increasingly testy with both his business relationship with…read more

Mar.23
0

In the dead of the night on a Greyhound bus, there’s always Deadwood

Posted by in Personal Travails

Greyhound bus, 9:30 PM, somewhere between Ottawa and Montreal. Long bus trips are trying at the best of times, so making a two and a half hour sojourn twice a week between Montreal and Ottawa seemed a natural site for some intervention in the form of distraction. Every Wednesday evening after a long day of classes and TA discussion groups my colleague Michael and myself hurry our exhausted bodies and brains to the Greyhound bus station in Ottawa to barely make the 9PM run to Montreal. Once in our seats,…read more

Mar.09
3