Back in 1997, during Mayor Susan Thompson's reign, City Hall had hired George Cuff, who hailed from Edmonton, to look at ways to further deepen Unicity government here. At the time, there was a major campaign through the press to replace the five City Commissioners, who were all Men, with one CAO at City Hall.
The way this concept was sold was we were constantly told that Edmonton City Hall had recently replaced its Commissioners with a CAO, thereby saving costs. Enacting this required an amendment to the City of Winnipeg Act, which was put into action on October 29, 1997.
However, the first Winnipeg CAO was a woman, Anita Stenning, who after quitting that position, went on to CEO of CentreVenture, which is in charge of getting a hold of property that is vacant and finding new uses for them.
TVOntario's Agenda had a program topic about Women in Politics, and whether there should be more women encouraged to enter that field.
One of the panelists said because women are finding it hard to break through the so-called "glass ceiling" in politics, but doing the job of CAO is easier because it is a managerial job and not an elected position.
About halfway through the program, one of the panelists mentions that 54% of CAOs in Canada are women!
I wonder whether the Cuff Report was written to get rid of some Men in civic administration.
See also:
Frontier Centre for Public Policy - Cuff Report: Tricky Treat?
2.22.2008
2.20.2008
We Are Borg, Resistance Is Futile!
This past weekend I had the opportunity to check out the Facebook website.
I did this only because in checking the weblogs for truwinnipeg.org, it reported that most of the accesses to our site were via Facebook, rather than Google, or MSN Search, etc...
So after getting curious about this created my own Facebook ID. The difference in creating an on this site as compared to others is that you are highly encouraged to use your real name.
There are online communities similar to those on the regular web, except to view them, you MUST have a Facebook ID.
I know a few people on there locally, and of course I typed in 'Winnipeg Transit' to find groups related to that, and I also became official friends with other TRU Winnipeggers, and a politician.
What bothers me about Facebook is that it is like peering into someone else's private life. For example, I have a friend outside of Winnipeg who used to live here. I know that he has 3 or 4 kids. I can view photos of their Christmas together. I can also view photos of another friend, this one who does live in the city. And his kid is a bit on the obese side, for someone his age, yet I have had not met been in the presence of this person yet.
One other friend that I know allows Facebook to publish the latest songs and YouTube videos that he has watched.
We are quickly becoming a surveillance society, with Facebook, other online communities, and of course surveillance cameras on buses, and on street corners, and inside businesses and civic institutions like the public library.
Facebook to me, could be used for evil purposes. It could conceivably create a community against a person, and unless that person were a member of a site like Facebook, they would not have a clue what is being said about them.
I see this being used, in worse times that we live in now, as a sort Orwellian "eye", where there is considerable peer pressure to remain part of "the collective", like The Borg of Star Trek fame.
I did this only because in checking the weblogs for truwinnipeg.org, it reported that most of the accesses to our site were via Facebook, rather than Google, or MSN Search, etc...
So after getting curious about this created my own Facebook ID. The difference in creating an on this site as compared to others is that you are highly encouraged to use your real name.
There are online communities similar to those on the regular web, except to view them, you MUST have a Facebook ID.
I know a few people on there locally, and of course I typed in 'Winnipeg Transit' to find groups related to that, and I also became official friends with other TRU Winnipeggers, and a politician.
What bothers me about Facebook is that it is like peering into someone else's private life. For example, I have a friend outside of Winnipeg who used to live here. I know that he has 3 or 4 kids. I can view photos of their Christmas together. I can also view photos of another friend, this one who does live in the city. And his kid is a bit on the obese side, for someone his age, yet I have had not met been in the presence of this person yet.
One other friend that I know allows Facebook to publish the latest songs and YouTube videos that he has watched.
We are quickly becoming a surveillance society, with Facebook, other online communities, and of course surveillance cameras on buses, and on street corners, and inside businesses and civic institutions like the public library.
Facebook to me, could be used for evil purposes. It could conceivably create a community against a person, and unless that person were a member of a site like Facebook, they would not have a clue what is being said about them.
I see this being used, in worse times that we live in now, as a sort Orwellian "eye", where there is considerable peer pressure to remain part of "the collective", like The Borg of Star Trek fame.
I will NOT be emasculated!
It is since 2002 that it seems that most men my age are too soft when it comes to the way they act... They are not "real" men because society has told them that men with male qualities of assertiveness, aggressiveness, and competitivenesses is somehow wrong.
Well, this is just plain WRONG! I have a very strong sense of being male. You cannot take that away from me. You can try, but in the end the man with inner boy comes right back. I almost fell for being emasculated earlier in the decade because I noticed more young women serving me at fast food restaurants for example... Soon enough you start to talk to yourself in that feminine voice. But no more! I've figured out the plan.
And men have been constantly told that we "need to get in touch with our feminine side" Rubbish! This false propaganda is the the source of the problem.
So whenever I see a Mom telling her young son that he is acting to aggressive, I have begun to tell the Mom that "he is normal, that is normal for a boy".... I mean as long as he is not punching another person and causing physical harm that way, no harm.
Guys are guys, and girls are girls. That's the way God designed us.
Well, this is just plain WRONG! I have a very strong sense of being male. You cannot take that away from me. You can try, but in the end the man with inner boy comes right back. I almost fell for being emasculated earlier in the decade because I noticed more young women serving me at fast food restaurants for example... Soon enough you start to talk to yourself in that feminine voice. But no more! I've figured out the plan.
And men have been constantly told that we "need to get in touch with our feminine side" Rubbish! This false propaganda is the the source of the problem.
So whenever I see a Mom telling her young son that he is acting to aggressive, I have begun to tell the Mom that "he is normal, that is normal for a boy".... I mean as long as he is not punching another person and causing physical harm that way, no harm.
Guys are guys, and girls are girls. That's the way God designed us.
12.11.2007
Archiving Analog vs Archiving Digital: Which Will Last Longer?
A report this past Spring from the New Brunswick provincial archives warns that society is in danger of losing valuable historical records because they are being improperly stored on digital media.
I have been reexamining the benefits of analog vs digital in the past year, after reading reports like above. After all, as an archivist, I have been using the Net to "re-publish" works that relate to my hobbies like rail rapid transit (see transportation documents on uwto.org), CBWT's former news & current affairs program, 24Hours, where 32 videos have been re-published onto YouTube.
Recently I played back a few of the old audio cassettes that have been gathering dust for a few years. It's recommended, at a minimum, to fast wind a tape from beginning to end, to ensure that the tape binder doesn't stick to the adjacent tape, causing major playback problems. One tape had me at the age of 13 or 14 introduce two news reports I recorded in 1979 or 1980 by placing a cheap cassette recorder close to the television speaker. At the time, just like anyone else, when hearing ones own voice recorded, it doesn't sound complimentary.That recording is invaluable now. However, given its age, and the quality of tape itself was not high. It is best to make a second generation copy before it gets lost or unplayable.
Five years ago I scanned in my baby pictures from the late late 1960s into the computer and have a couple of copies accessible to me. One of them is a CD-R, the other is via an online photo sharing service. However, dozens of other family photos from our collection have yet to be digitized and I hope that they can be done before severe deterioration occurs.
The best way to keep family family photographs from being lost before future generations even have a chance to see them, is to print them out on good quality photographic paper.
If you have any audio or video recordings of your childhood or your own kids, the best way to preserve them is to use good quality analog media like reel-to-reel (do people still use those? you bet), and Hi8 camcorder tape.
I have been reexamining the benefits of analog vs digital in the past year, after reading reports like above. After all, as an archivist, I have been using the Net to "re-publish" works that relate to my hobbies like rail rapid transit (see transportation documents on uwto.org), CBWT's former news & current affairs program, 24Hours, where 32 videos have been re-published onto YouTube.
Recently I played back a few of the old audio cassettes that have been gathering dust for a few years. It's recommended, at a minimum, to fast wind a tape from beginning to end, to ensure that the tape binder doesn't stick to the adjacent tape, causing major playback problems. One tape had me at the age of 13 or 14 introduce two news reports I recorded in 1979 or 1980 by placing a cheap cassette recorder close to the television speaker. At the time, just like anyone else, when hearing ones own voice recorded, it doesn't sound complimentary.That recording is invaluable now. However, given its age, and the quality of tape itself was not high. It is best to make a second generation copy before it gets lost or unplayable.
Five years ago I scanned in my baby pictures from the late late 1960s into the computer and have a couple of copies accessible to me. One of them is a CD-R, the other is via an online photo sharing service. However, dozens of other family photos from our collection have yet to be digitized and I hope that they can be done before severe deterioration occurs.
The best way to keep family family photographs from being lost before future generations even have a chance to see them, is to print them out on good quality photographic paper.
If you have any audio or video recordings of your childhood or your own kids, the best way to preserve them is to use good quality analog media like reel-to-reel (do people still use those? you bet), and Hi8 camcorder tape.
11.11.2007
He Roared (Like a Lion)!
I watched the movie Michael Clayton (starring George Clooney), twice, for two reasons.
First is that the story lends itself to seeing it more than once because the storyline moves back and forth telling why certain events took place.
The other reason I saw this film a second time has to do with the character of Michael Clayton and the choice of George Clooney to play the role.
Way back in 1996 I started watching ER on NBC. George was one of the original cast members of ER between 1993 and 1999-ish, when he left for a career in movie acting.
George is one of the men that I look up to as as a role model these days, because when there are so few good role models (even if it's just for the characters that they play) for men
If you get a chance to see the movie Michael Clayton, the best part is the last 10 minutes or so, when he is telling Karen (U|North's lawyer) that he is settling for $10 and no less. She says they can't afford that kind of settlement of the class action suit. Michael says "does it look like I'm negotiating here?!".
And when it's all over, Michael just walks away with a small smile on his face, the feeling of justice served (those 400 people will get their settlement money).
Then comes the best part:
He Roared (Like a Lion)!
Not literally, but metaphorically.
Great movie. 10 out of 10. And I hear that it might be nominated for an Academy Award or more.
imdb.com - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0465538/
YouTube.com movie trailer - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9l12IQe98vE
First is that the story lends itself to seeing it more than once because the storyline moves back and forth telling why certain events took place.
The other reason I saw this film a second time has to do with the character of Michael Clayton and the choice of George Clooney to play the role.
Way back in 1996 I started watching ER on NBC. George was one of the original cast members of ER between 1993 and 1999-ish, when he left for a career in movie acting.
George is one of the men that I look up to as as a role model these days, because when there are so few good role models (even if it's just for the characters that they play) for men
If you get a chance to see the movie Michael Clayton, the best part is the last 10 minutes or so, when he is telling Karen (U|North's lawyer) that he is settling for $10 and no less. She says they can't afford that kind of settlement of the class action suit. Michael says "does it look like I'm negotiating here?!".
And when it's all over, Michael just walks away with a small smile on his face, the feeling of justice served (those 400 people will get their settlement money).
Then comes the best part:
He Roared (Like a Lion)!
Not literally, but metaphorically.
Great movie. 10 out of 10. And I hear that it might be nominated for an Academy Award or more.
imdb.com - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0465538/
YouTube.com movie trailer - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9l12IQe98vE
10.14.2007
Bill 208 - Grandparents Access Bill
In May of 2005, the PC MLA for Minnedosa, Leanne Rowat, introduced Provincial Bill 208, to amend Sect. 78 of the Child and Family Services Act, and is intended to ease access issues with grandparents in cases of messy divorces.
http://www.gov.mb.ca/legislature/hansard/3rd-38th/vol_50a/h50a.html
The following MLAs spoke in favour of the Grandparents Access Bill:
Also present in the Gallery at the time, were members of the GRAND Society of Manitoba, a grandparents rights group, who helped design the amendment.
Christine Melnick (NDP - Riel) was the Minister of Family Services at the time the Bill was introduced.
Yes, it is truly sad when a grandparent has to fill out an application form just to spend time with his or her grandchildren. This situation is a double-edged sword, in that on the one hand grandparents now have it easier to see their grandkids, but at the same time why should this be necessary at all. Wouldn't it be better to make divorce much more difficult to begin with?
What caught my eye, was near the end of debate on May 19th, 2005, that this Bill seemed to have non-partisan support. However, the NDP government wanted to close debate because it would allow it to go to Committee, and then Third Reading. Quite impressive, I might add.
Bill 208 was indeed passed into Law on December 7th, 2oo6, and remains in effect today.
http://www.gov.mb.ca/legislature/hansard/3rd-38th/vol_50a/h50a.html
The following MLAs spoke in favour of the Grandparents Access Bill:
- Andrew Swan (PC - Minto), practiced family law at Thompson Dorfman Sweatman for 14 years before becoming an MLA in 2004.
- Mavis Taillieu (PC - Morris)
- Kevin Lamoureux (Liberal - Inkster)
- Drew Caldwell (NDP - Brandon East)
- Len Derkach (PC - Russell)
- Leanne Rowat (PC - Minnedosa) - Bill 208 was her first that was introduced into the Manitoba Legislature.
Also present in the Gallery at the time, were members of the GRAND Society of Manitoba, a grandparents rights group, who helped design the amendment.
Christine Melnick (NDP - Riel) was the Minister of Family Services at the time the Bill was introduced.
Yes, it is truly sad when a grandparent has to fill out an application form just to spend time with his or her grandchildren. This situation is a double-edged sword, in that on the one hand grandparents now have it easier to see their grandkids, but at the same time why should this be necessary at all. Wouldn't it be better to make divorce much more difficult to begin with?
What caught my eye, was near the end of debate on May 19th, 2005, that this Bill seemed to have non-partisan support. However, the NDP government wanted to close debate because it would allow it to go to Committee, and then Third Reading. Quite impressive, I might add.
Bill 208 was indeed passed into Law on December 7th, 2oo6, and remains in effect today.
4.25.2007
A Trolley For The Forks?
Winnipeg Free Press
April 21, 2007
Page B1
You're damn right there should be an electric trolley service between The Forks and other parts of downtown, Mr. August!
I spoke on the topic of a downtown trolley/streetcar loop at the May 1999 Council meeting to create CentreVenture:
http://uwto.org/articles/transit_1999streetcar.html
April 21, 2007
Page B1
The Forks CEO Jim August said he will start working next week on landscaping and a "green" transportation plan, including whether to locate parking behind the building against the rail line and how to set up some public transit or a people-mover trolley that can link the museum to other downtown attractions. A parking structure is really a last resort, August said.
You're damn right there should be an electric trolley service between The Forks and other parts of downtown, Mr. August!
I spoke on the topic of a downtown trolley/streetcar loop at the May 1999 Council meeting to create CentreVenture:
http://uwto.org/articles/transit_1999streetcar.html
4.23.2007
Issues w/ American Satellite-Cable Networks
Arts & Entertainment Cable Network - I really enjoyed A&E in the late 80s and early 90s.Then they changed focus to more recent television police drama and I lost interest in the channel.
Black Entertainment Television - They need to expand the type of programs they offer to include Jazz, and maybe have a positive roll model Black family sitcom show.
CNBC - Why is Mad Money on so much and at a time after work when I want to watch a summary of the day's business news.
CNN -- Good when there's a natural disaster or something like that, but is too Rah Rah for the War in Iraq. Ted Turner shouldn't have sold to AOL Time Warner in 2001.
CNN HeadlineNews - Used to be a great service in the late 80s and through most of the 90s. Then in the early 2000s they changed their forumula and I stopped watching. There's opinion programming where there shouldn't be -- in prime time after a long day at work I want the headlines, not some schmuck telling me his or her opinions on things. HeadlinePrime needs to be focused on delivering the news, not opining about it!
The Golf Channel -- Not interested in golf as much because the commentators forcus too much on Tiger Woods. Well guys, there are other golfers out there besides him.
Speed -- Not interested in the NASCAR channel.
The Learning Channel -- This used to be a great educational channel until the late 90s. Then they started to change the focus to women's lifestyle programming, very similar to HGTv, just what there is already too much programming of.
Black Entertainment Television - They need to expand the type of programs they offer to include Jazz, and maybe have a positive roll model Black family sitcom show.
CNBC - Why is Mad Money on so much and at a time after work when I want to watch a summary of the day's business news.
CNN -- Good when there's a natural disaster or something like that, but is too Rah Rah for the War in Iraq. Ted Turner shouldn't have sold to AOL Time Warner in 2001.
CNN HeadlineNews - Used to be a great service in the late 80s and through most of the 90s. Then in the early 2000s they changed their forumula and I stopped watching. There's opinion programming where there shouldn't be -- in prime time after a long day at work I want the headlines, not some schmuck telling me his or her opinions on things. HeadlinePrime needs to be focused on delivering the news, not opining about it!
The Golf Channel -- Not interested in golf as much because the commentators forcus too much on Tiger Woods. Well guys, there are other golfers out there besides him.
Speed -- Not interested in the NASCAR channel.
The Learning Channel -- This used to be a great educational channel until the late 90s. Then they started to change the focus to women's lifestyle programming, very similar to HGTv, just what there is already too much programming of.
4.22.2007
Issues w/ Canadian Satellite-Cable Networks
The promise of having several satellite-cable networks, called "narrowcasting" is that we would be never far away from the genre of programming that we love. However, the promise has failed to deliver. This blog entry and the next one attempt to review the current status of Canadian, American and International television networks available today.
The CRTC licensed these channels. So they are partly to blame for not keeping the channel owners on their toes when it comes to making sure they have interesting content on most of the time. But it's also a failure of the Canadian Television Fund which helps pay for that Canadian content over all these multitude of channels.
My answer to the problem is to combine some of these channels. For example, do we really need 5 music stations, licensed to play music videos and none of them do, but intead feature reality television crap? Maybe instead of MuchMusic, MuchMoreMusic, MuchVibe, and MuchLOUD, they should consolidate into one MuchMusic station like originally. Also MTV Canada should be allowed to air music videos. In the end we subscribers would pay less for our television service and there would be fewer channels into which better programming could be produced or purchased. Everybody wins.
BNN
BPM:tv - The only music station that still plays music videos, although most of them can be classified in the "soft erotica" category. I find I have to turn off the tv because I find the "tits n ass" in the videos offensive. There is no need for most of it.
Bravo!
Canadian Learning Television - this channel isn't educational at all. It shows too much general interest entertainment programming like Monk, The West Wing, which are not the kind of educational type programming that CLT is licensed for in the first place.
CBC Newsworld - consists of three programs "Morning", "Today", and "The National". The network needs to develop more programs like in the old days of Newsworld.
CMT Canada - I'm not a Country music fan, so this channel is useless to me.
Comedy Channel - don't like 99% of the shows
Country Canada - should combine with The Documentary Channel to create CBC-2.
CP24 - This channel I like.
CPAC
CTV NewsNet - mostly better than CBC Newsworld
Dejaview - sometimes
Discovery Channel Canada - not as good as it was in the 90s. Don't watch anymore.
DriveIn - Watch very rarely.
Encore Avenue - OK. No complaints
G4 TechTv - Call for Help I watch, but the videogame shows are junk to me.
History Television - Nothing on here is interesting to me. It's mostly about various Wars.
iChannel - was good when it first started, but is not interesting anymore. I dumped the channel last year.
IFC Canada - Watch very rarely.
Lonestar - Don't watch.
Movie Central - OK. No complaints
Movieola - has too many 1920s/1930s Mickey Mouse cartoon shows.
MTV Canada - This service cannot play music videos because of the conditions of their current license. So if I want to watch music videos there's YouTube.
MuchMusic - Doesn't play music videos any more. Useless channel that used to be very good in the 1980s.
MuchMoreMusic - Was very good when it first started in October 1998, but also no longer plays music videos. Have to go to YouTube to watch a music video.
Mystery - Useless channel to me.
OLN - Good for the one month in the year that they carry the Tour De France bike race. Otherwise a useless channel. Maybe this channel could fold and TSN could pick up the annual bike race.
ROGERS SportsNet - I watch is sometimes when I'm interested in sports. They have good baseball and basketball coverage.
Showcase Television -
Showcase Action -
Showcase Diva -
Score - Don't watch this channel. I used to watch when it was HeadlineSports in the late 90s.
Scream - Rarely watch.
Space - Rarely watch. I probably need a rest from all those Star Trek series that were on during the 90s, and the other programming doesn't interest me much because it's poorly done.
Telelatino -- would watch more often if they had musical variety programming in Italian & Spanish, but most of the time it features English language American sitcoms. You can't really call this an ethnic station I guess.
The Documentary Channel -- Too many documentaries that focus on the drug trade and prostitution. And when they do have other documentaries, they rerun them too often in the day, so if you saw one doc there is no others to watch.
The Shopping Channel -- Longtime complaint I have is that there are very few items of interest to guys like electronics, gadgets, etc... Too many items for women.
TSN The Sports Network -- Sometimes I'll watch.
The Weather Network -- Way too many frequent interruptions for advertising. And the advertising is for hair care products or cars.
Treehouse -- Nothing of interest to me. Although it looks like Treehouse has lots of Canadian content, most of it is so cheaply produced that it doesn't warrant my time to view.
Tv Land Canada -- Has some interesting programming.
Tropolis -- Nothing of interest to me. This service used to be called Prime, and it had some
magazine programs that were viewable.
YTV Youth Television -- I used to watch alot of YTV in the first 4 or 5 years, then they started to change the programming and it's been downhill since then. I'm not into anime or violent programs like that.
The CRTC licensed these channels. So they are partly to blame for not keeping the channel owners on their toes when it comes to making sure they have interesting content on most of the time. But it's also a failure of the Canadian Television Fund which helps pay for that Canadian content over all these multitude of channels.
My answer to the problem is to combine some of these channels. For example, do we really need 5 music stations, licensed to play music videos and none of them do, but intead feature reality television crap? Maybe instead of MuchMusic, MuchMoreMusic, MuchVibe, and MuchLOUD, they should consolidate into one MuchMusic station like originally. Also MTV Canada should be allowed to air music videos. In the end we subscribers would pay less for our television service and there would be fewer channels into which better programming could be produced or purchased. Everybody wins.
BNN
BPM:tv - The only music station that still plays music videos, although most of them can be classified in the "soft erotica" category. I find I have to turn off the tv because I find the "tits n ass" in the videos offensive. There is no need for most of it.
Bravo!
Canadian Learning Television - this channel isn't educational at all. It shows too much general interest entertainment programming like Monk, The West Wing, which are not the kind of educational type programming that CLT is licensed for in the first place.
CBC Newsworld - consists of three programs "Morning", "Today", and "The National". The network needs to develop more programs like in the old days of Newsworld.
CMT Canada - I'm not a Country music fan, so this channel is useless to me.
Comedy Channel - don't like 99% of the shows
Country Canada - should combine with The Documentary Channel to create CBC-2.
CP24 - This channel I like.
CPAC
CTV NewsNet - mostly better than CBC Newsworld
Dejaview - sometimes
Discovery Channel Canada - not as good as it was in the 90s. Don't watch anymore.
DriveIn - Watch very rarely.
Encore Avenue - OK. No complaints
G4 TechTv - Call for Help I watch, but the videogame shows are junk to me.
History Television - Nothing on here is interesting to me. It's mostly about various Wars.
iChannel - was good when it first started, but is not interesting anymore. I dumped the channel last year.
IFC Canada - Watch very rarely.
Lonestar - Don't watch.
Movie Central - OK. No complaints
Movieola - has too many 1920s/1930s Mickey Mouse cartoon shows.
MTV Canada - This service cannot play music videos because of the conditions of their current license. So if I want to watch music videos there's YouTube.
MuchMusic - Doesn't play music videos any more. Useless channel that used to be very good in the 1980s.
MuchMoreMusic - Was very good when it first started in October 1998, but also no longer plays music videos. Have to go to YouTube to watch a music video.
Mystery - Useless channel to me.
OLN - Good for the one month in the year that they carry the Tour De France bike race. Otherwise a useless channel. Maybe this channel could fold and TSN could pick up the annual bike race.
ROGERS SportsNet - I watch is sometimes when I'm interested in sports. They have good baseball and basketball coverage.
Showcase Television -
Showcase Action -
Showcase Diva -
Score - Don't watch this channel. I used to watch when it was HeadlineSports in the late 90s.
Scream - Rarely watch.
Space - Rarely watch. I probably need a rest from all those Star Trek series that were on during the 90s, and the other programming doesn't interest me much because it's poorly done.
Telelatino -- would watch more often if they had musical variety programming in Italian & Spanish, but most of the time it features English language American sitcoms. You can't really call this an ethnic station I guess.
The Documentary Channel -- Too many documentaries that focus on the drug trade and prostitution. And when they do have other documentaries, they rerun them too often in the day, so if you saw one doc there is no others to watch.
The Shopping Channel -- Longtime complaint I have is that there are very few items of interest to guys like electronics, gadgets, etc... Too many items for women.
TSN The Sports Network -- Sometimes I'll watch.
The Weather Network -- Way too many frequent interruptions for advertising. And the advertising is for hair care products or cars.
Treehouse -- Nothing of interest to me. Although it looks like Treehouse has lots of Canadian content, most of it is so cheaply produced that it doesn't warrant my time to view.
Tv Land Canada -- Has some interesting programming.
Tropolis -- Nothing of interest to me. This service used to be called Prime, and it had some
magazine programs that were viewable.
YTV Youth Television -- I used to watch alot of YTV in the first 4 or 5 years, then they started to change the programming and it's been downhill since then. I'm not into anime or violent programs like that.
4.03.2007
Informal poll shows most Winnipeggers are smart on rapid transit issue
Last January 28th I set up a web poll at NewWinnipeg.com. I wanted to find out for myself what percentage of people want different types of rapid transit (BRT, LRT, subway), those that drive cars and SUVs and don't want any, those that cycle and prefer that mode of commuting.
Well, after more than two months and 43 votes later I can confidently say that Winnipeggers are smarter than the politicians when it comes to the rapid transit issue in Winnipeg.
The question was:
What form of rapid transit should Winnipeg implement?
And the results to now are:
Bus Rapid Transit 9% (4 votes)
Light Rail Transit 44% (19 votes)
Subway/metro 14% (6 votes)
None - my bicycle is my rapid transit 7% (3 votes)
None - my car/SUV is my rapid transit 26% (11 votes)
So even if you just extract the LRT and subway percentages from this poll, 58% of people like the rail option. That's impressive Winnipeg. Thanks.
So there you have it. Though the BRT Hippies like Axworthy (oh my gawd!, Lloyd Axworthy a "hippie"?), Jenny Gerbasi, Donald Benham, and Kaj Hasselriis, can be quite noisy and vocal about their rapid transit preference; in reality most people support rail in the form of LRT or a subway (even if that's just 4-car trains mainly underground) for Winnipeg. The BRT gang are in the minority. And as the climate of our planet is changing for the worse, the BRT Hippies will one day eat their words.So I firmly believe that TRUWinnipeg is here to stay and we're on the right track. The rail transit advocates just need to make more noise than the BRT people. Soon the politicians will cave in because it'll be that mob like that Free Press article from 1990 predicted will happen if the politicians are not following the people's wishes on this issue.
Keep sending those pro subway e-mails and letters to the politicians people.
1.09.2007
Pseudo-Environmentalists Holding Back Winnipeg's Progress
As I age and as the years go by in the Internet discussions with others over what to do with Winnipeg's transportation problem, I've gained some insight as to what is keeping central Winnipeg from becoming a more lively, vibrant urban place.
There are various "factions" at work, who seem to want to stop all good progress towards this end. One of them I discuss in this piece.
Let's start off with a definition of what an environmentalist is. From Wictionary:
One who works to protect the biosphere from misuse through such measures as ecosystem protection, waste reduction and pollution prevention
But when it comes to mass transportation, they would throw out this ideal, and, in their senseless desire for "cheap" transportation, advocate for a much less desirable option for Winnipeg.
I'm not against the environment. Far from it. I recycle most of my garbage. I give away to others some of the things I don't need anymore.
But the difference between myself and the Hippie environmentalists is that I acknowledge that a rail vehicle is better than a bus for moving large numbers of people in a city.
There are various "factions" at work, who seem to want to stop all good progress towards this end. One of them I discuss in this piece.
Let's start off with a definition of what an environmentalist is. From Wictionary:
One who works to protect the biosphere from misuse through such measures as ecosystem protection, waste reduction and pollution prevention
But when it comes to mass transportation, they would throw out this ideal, and, in their senseless desire for "cheap" transportation, advocate for a much less desirable option for Winnipeg.
- They claim to be environmentalists, but advocate for things that are not -- diesel bus BRT
- They claim to be progressive, but are anti-progressive when it comes to downtown development and "alternative transportation"
- Want, in effect, a rural/country-like setting
- They advocate for "cheap" transportation, ie. cycling, Bus "Rapid Transit".
- They're generally recognized as the children of the Hippies, or are from the Hippie generation themselves
- During the rapid transit debate of 2004 news reporters referred to the pro-BRT camp as "transit advocates". Nothing could be further from the truth, as BRT will ultimately hurt transit ridership and the environment, not help these two things
I'm not against the environment. Far from it. I recycle most of my garbage. I give away to others some of the things I don't need anymore.
But the difference between myself and the Hippie environmentalists is that I acknowledge that a rail vehicle is better than a bus for moving large numbers of people in a city.
12.24.2006
24Hours is back ... Part 2
On November 30th, 2006, CBC English Tv announced that the full 60-minutes of local newscast would be reinstated as of February 2007.
Hoorray!
OK, so now they need to fill that other 30 minutes again. I just had an idea.
In Winnipeg there are only two or three people re-publishing the archives of CBWT ... newsclips from 24Hours, local station IDs and promos, and putting them on YouTube.
It would be nice if CBWT dug out their own (original) copies of its archive and started to digitize them and also put them onto YouTube or the CBC Manitoba site. There's probably stuff in there prior to consumer video recorders that would be classified as gems.
And if they featured some of this archival material, at least once a week, on 24Hours and equivalent supper hour news programs across Canada, they'd make our country a better place. The CBC does republish archival material that is of national nature, but they just haven't had the time or resources to work on the local end of things.
Anyways, hoping someone at CBWT (CBC Manitoba) will read this over and consider ...
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone.
Hoorray!
OK, so now they need to fill that other 30 minutes again. I just had an idea.
In Winnipeg there are only two or three people re-publishing the archives of CBWT ... newsclips from 24Hours, local station IDs and promos, and putting them on YouTube.
It would be nice if CBWT dug out their own (original) copies of its archive and started to digitize them and also put them onto YouTube or the CBC Manitoba site. There's probably stuff in there prior to consumer video recorders that would be classified as gems.
And if they featured some of this archival material, at least once a week, on 24Hours and equivalent supper hour news programs across Canada, they'd make our country a better place. The CBC does republish archival material that is of national nature, but they just haven't had the time or resources to work on the local end of things.
Anyways, hoping someone at CBWT (CBC Manitoba) will read this over and consider ...
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone.
12.02.2006
24Hours is baaaack!
On November 30th, after 6 loooooong years, after Robbie Rabinovitch's last few months as President of the CBC, after his pal Mr. Stursburg is going to (possibly) follow him out the door, we hear that they are going to put back the full 60 minutes of locally produced news in each region.
Burn in Hell , Canada Now!
So the return of the full hour means that most likely the highly respected and loved name for the Winnipeg 'cast will remain -- 24Hours.
Anyways, three cheers for CBC Television.
11.29.2006
got subway?
Last week Premier Gary Doer announced in his throne speech for the 2006-07 Legislative Session that he intends on spending $4 Billion for maintenance and expansion of rural highways, and another $4 Billion to construct a hydro dam called Conawappa, which was cancelled when the other Gary (Filmon) took power in 1990.
So Premier Gary, where is the $4 Billion for an underground (mass transit) subway for Winnipeg? Huh?
So Premier Gary, where is the $4 Billion for an underground (mass transit) subway for Winnipeg? Huh?
10.17.2006
Marianne Cerilli
A few weeks ago, very near to the time when the Mayoral candidates deadline to register, my friend came to me and requested that I sign Marianne Cerilli's petition to run for Mayor in this years civic election.
I signed.
What a mistake that was.
I don't know much about Ms. Cerilli ... she is a former NDP MLA from 1990 to 2003 in the Raddisson area.
This friend, whom I've admired for his writings for the past twenty years, and this other person who also is a regular writer are supporting Marianne's campaign.
The first guy says, "Jim, we convinced Marianne of the need for light rail in Winnipeg."
That says it all doesn't it. This person is normally in favour of subways for Winnipeg and also has a pretty good sense of who is for and who is against rail rapid transit in Winnipeg. But I guess if you carry the "labour" card around this town, well that somehow manages to trump the other values.
Why would I support a politician who says they were "convinced" of the value of rapid transit by another person, when indeed it is common sense that if you understand the dynamics of living in a big city and how to make it work properly you shouldn't have to be "convinced" of its value, it should just naturally become part of your urbanist values, right?
Not for Marianne and her minions though.
Secondly, and this has seemed to compromise my values when it comes to gender issues.
See Marianne refers to herself as an "eco-feminist". What is that you say? Well I'm more concerned about the feminist part. There are two kinds of feminists:
So while I did sign her campaign nomination paper, based on the usually good judgement of my transit friend, I think he missed the mark this time.
I have absolutely no plans to vote for Ms. Cerilli on October 25th. None. Nada.
I may choose to vote for Sam Katz this time because at least Mayor Sam took the initiative in late 2004/early 2005 to sample light rail transit in other cities. He didn't need to be convinced of this. He had also been quoted several times in the local media that he prefers LRT over BRT.
So there you have it. I think that Marianne is just leading these men around by the nose and that she is using them to further her
What Marianne also stands for is also to sustain the poverty industry here in Winnipeg. She has worked with, or supports or is in favour of the Social Planning Council. They are part of the problem, not the solution.
Further reading:
The Black Rod
I signed.
What a mistake that was.
I don't know much about Ms. Cerilli ... she is a former NDP MLA from 1990 to 2003 in the Raddisson area.
This friend, whom I've admired for his writings for the past twenty years, and this other person who also is a regular writer are supporting Marianne's campaign.
The first guy says, "Jim, we convinced Marianne of the need for light rail in Winnipeg."
That says it all doesn't it. This person is normally in favour of subways for Winnipeg and also has a pretty good sense of who is for and who is against rail rapid transit in Winnipeg. But I guess if you carry the "labour" card around this town, well that somehow manages to trump the other values.
Why would I support a politician who says they were "convinced" of the value of rapid transit by another person, when indeed it is common sense that if you understand the dynamics of living in a big city and how to make it work properly you shouldn't have to be "convinced" of its value, it should just naturally become part of your urbanist values, right?
Not for Marianne and her minions though.
Secondly, and this has seemed to compromise my values when it comes to gender issues.
See Marianne refers to herself as an "eco-feminist". What is that you say? Well I'm more concerned about the feminist part. There are two kinds of feminists:
- Eqality or Egaliarian
- Gender
So while I did sign her campaign nomination paper, based on the usually good judgement of my transit friend, I think he missed the mark this time.
I have absolutely no plans to vote for Ms. Cerilli on October 25th. None. Nada.
I may choose to vote for Sam Katz this time because at least Mayor Sam took the initiative in late 2004/early 2005 to sample light rail transit in other cities. He didn't need to be convinced of this. He had also been quoted several times in the local media that he prefers LRT over BRT.
So there you have it. I think that Marianne is just leading these men around by the nose and that she is using them to further her
What Marianne also stands for is also to sustain the poverty industry here in Winnipeg. She has worked with, or supports or is in favour of the Social Planning Council. They are part of the problem, not the solution.
Further reading:
The Black Rod
8.27.2006
Who are they writing for?
I am puzzled over happenings at the Winnipeg Free Press. I'm wondering just who they are writing to when they create their version of the daily newspaper.
I like a newspaper to carry lots of local stories, and am interested in local politics and that.
But when I buy the weekend paper, because I have more time on my hands to do more casual reading, I prefer to have a paper like you see in other cities like Toronto, New York, etc... These are huge papers, filled with background stories of what's happening in their area and trends around the world.
But when I open the Freep, I find I flip from page to page, not finding anything to hold my interest to want to read that article.
I just want to know.... when they prepare the paper every day, who do they 'see' as their reader? It surely doesn't seem to be someone like myself.
More on this issue in further blog writings...
I like a newspaper to carry lots of local stories, and am interested in local politics and that.
But when I buy the weekend paper, because I have more time on my hands to do more casual reading, I prefer to have a paper like you see in other cities like Toronto, New York, etc... These are huge papers, filled with background stories of what's happening in their area and trends around the world.
But when I open the Freep, I find I flip from page to page, not finding anything to hold my interest to want to read that article.
I just want to know.... when they prepare the paper every day, who do they 'see' as their reader? It surely doesn't seem to be someone like myself.
More on this issue in further blog writings...
7.27.2006
St. Iggy's 9 p.m. Group
What is happening to the 9 p.m. singing group at St. Ignatius Church here in Winnipeg?
They used to be sooooo goood, so soulful, like a direct connection to heaven.
Now, after 30 years, they sing with most of the group not even there.
There used to be a drummer, a guitarist, a bass guitarist. Now we're lucky if we get the bass guitar guy, whom I love when he used play those jazzy riffs back in 1991.
Are they just losing the interest, or like, what's wrong? I wish I could fix it. If there's no drummer, then try and find a replacement. It really does make a difference.
This past weekend Jeff Doerr (the keyboardist) and his wife (singer) were gone, probably on vacation somewhere. But it wasn't that much better during the winter months.
The oomph is missing. The drums are missing, like when they sing the Our Father prayer ... (one, two, three) "Our Father, Who Art in Heaven" (boom) "Hallowed be Thy Name" (boom).
There were just the jazzy bassist and one of the singers. I had to help provide backing vocals, from the pew, because there weren't any others singing it.
And the relatives were wondering WHY Jim doesn't like going to St. Iggy's anymore, which I've been doing on a regular basis since 1982. That's one of the reasons.
They used to be sooooo goood, so soulful, like a direct connection to heaven.
Now, after 30 years, they sing with most of the group not even there.
There used to be a drummer, a guitarist, a bass guitarist. Now we're lucky if we get the bass guitar guy, whom I love when he used play those jazzy riffs back in 1991.
Are they just losing the interest, or like, what's wrong? I wish I could fix it. If there's no drummer, then try and find a replacement. It really does make a difference.
This past weekend Jeff Doerr (the keyboardist) and his wife (singer) were gone, probably on vacation somewhere. But it wasn't that much better during the winter months.
The oomph is missing. The drums are missing, like when they sing the Our Father prayer ... (one, two, three) "Our Father, Who Art in Heaven" (boom) "Hallowed be Thy Name" (boom).
There were just the jazzy bassist and one of the singers. I had to help provide backing vocals, from the pew, because there weren't any others singing it.
And the relatives were wondering WHY Jim doesn't like going to St. Iggy's anymore, which I've been doing on a regular basis since 1982. That's one of the reasons.
What happened to Classiness?
See this ABBA video from 1982, then compare this to the pop culture of today with its cell phones, trashy music videos, and reality tv:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8jqAEoogHw
I'm old enough to remember those good old days of the 1980s when Winnipeg had two department stores downtown -- Eaton's and The Bay.
This video signifies for me a certain classiness that is so missing in today's culture. To some it may seem like ABBA is acting "arrogant" or whatever, but you compare that to the crap that's put out today and it just doesn't.
You see, people like to emulate the celebrities, they kind of show the way to style and therefore create culture.
In this music video, Head Over Heels, members of the group go on a shopping trip downtown. They are dressed well and shop at the nice stores. There is no discount/bargain shops in sight.
When I was living through 1982 this is in a way my feelings in that year, it was kinda like an artsy kind of year, symphony music, and all that stuff, but nice pop music, like the Jazz from Joe Jackson's Breaking Us In Two. That song I somehow associated with morning delivery of the Winnipeg Sun -- I used to be a carrier for them at the time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8jqAEoogHw
I'm old enough to remember those good old days of the 1980s when Winnipeg had two department stores downtown -- Eaton's and The Bay.
This video signifies for me a certain classiness that is so missing in today's culture. To some it may seem like ABBA is acting "arrogant" or whatever, but you compare that to the crap that's put out today and it just doesn't.
You see, people like to emulate the celebrities, they kind of show the way to style and therefore create culture.
In this music video, Head Over Heels, members of the group go on a shopping trip downtown. They are dressed well and shop at the nice stores. There is no discount/bargain shops in sight.
When I was living through 1982 this is in a way my feelings in that year, it was kinda like an artsy kind of year, symphony music, and all that stuff, but nice pop music, like the Jazz from Joe Jackson's Breaking Us In Two. That song I somehow associated with morning delivery of the Winnipeg Sun -- I used to be a carrier for them at the time.
7.25.2006
Social Planning Council Hindering Winnipeg Growth
There is a group in Winnipeg that's been around since 1919, the Social Planning Council. It's current leader is Wayne Helgason, an aboriginal.
I feel that this group is part of the problem of why Winnipeg has been growing its underclass sinc about 1987 and the skilled middle-class has been leaving since about 1990.
What has the SPC ever done to improve Winnipeg for everyone? I think they've just helped to expand the underclass here.
If Winnipeg is to grow into a large metropolis on the scale of other cities like Minneapolis Minnesota, Toronto Ontario, or Chicago Illinois, we seriously need to either:
I feel that this group is part of the problem of why Winnipeg has been growing its underclass sinc about 1987 and the skilled middle-class has been leaving since about 1990.
What has the SPC ever done to improve Winnipeg for everyone? I think they've just helped to expand the underclass here.
If Winnipeg is to grow into a large metropolis on the scale of other cities like Minneapolis Minnesota, Toronto Ontario, or Chicago Illinois, we seriously need to either:
- Re-examine the leadership of this organization
- Get rid of the SPC itself
7.13.2006
I got my MTV today
I was sitting watching tv this evening flicking the channels, and WGN of them had the Smallville Superman-related show in the IPG list. So I watched a few minutes of that.
Then after the commercial it switched to WGN-DT2, which was showing THETUBE, a "real" music video channel, started in 2005 by one of the co-founders of MTV back in August of 1981.
WOW!
True to its slogan All Music, it plays absolutely no commercials, and no reality crap. Just music videos from the past 6 decades.
Unfortunately I don't have an HDTv set yet and so this was just an error that one of the ExpressVu technicians did or maybe WGN shows this program now in the summer.
In any way, I was really happy with this program. MuchMusic has lost their way. They don't need 4 different Much* channels. We just need one that plays music videos and concerts the way it used to be back in the 1980s.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)