Music consumerism and Starbucks
MUSIC TRENDS | Music consumerism and Starbucks. It’s a whole new world. All of a sudden Starbucks is to music like Oprah is to books. The coffee giant is brewing up more than Mocha Javas, ...
How to get that big vacation feeling for less
TRAVEL | Budget travel tips for Canadians who can’t go far from home, but really need to get that big vacation feeling for less. I need a vacation. A holiday. A week on a secluded beach ...
Welcome to Dose, a commuter daily posing as a “magazine”
WRITING for Dose | 2018: So as mentioned in previous posts, I was recruited internally from the Vancouver Sun to work at Dose in late 2004. The job started in early 2005. Basically, while I was ...
Baby writer grows up (or how not to grow your writing career)
WRITING | Or, how to grow your writing career? Lol. Grow your writing career? Sure. Just work for free for a year or more. Just kidding. Please don’t do that! Don’t do any of this. ...
Green gift guide for good-hearted giving
CULTURE | Green gift guide. Our favourite things: Vancouver Sun holiday season green gift guide. ETHICAL GIFTS | Wondering how to reconcile the true meaning of the holidays with the urge for ...
Rock Paper Scissors world championships
CULTURE | Welcome to the Rock Paper Scissors world championships! Yes! This contest exists. See my previous piece on this “sporting event” here. GAMES | I let you down, Vancouver. ...
He’s Just Not That Into You is trash
REVIEW | He’s Just Not That Into You, 2004. New self-help guide is sexist and condescending in the extreme. DATING | Oprah isn’t always right. Don’t get me wrong, I love the show. I even ...
Is Rock Paper Scissors a sport?
CULTURE | Toronto to host world championships in this ‘serious’ sport. Despite the fact that I eat tacos for dinner three nights a week and think sweat pants are for watching television, in a ...
Paris Hilton’s Confessions almost witty
BOOKS | Headline-making heiress reveals no insight, debunks no myths, rebuts no scandals. Paris Hilton is making headlines again. (Don’t get your hopes up – it’s not another sex tape.) The ...
Bryan Adams, Room Service review
REVIEW | Bryan Adams, Room Service | Polydor Records (Universal), ** 1/2. There’s something comforting about a musician like Bryan Adams. While he may not being doing anything particularly ...
Art meets fashion – and the results may surprise you
ARTS | Many fashion designers consider their work an art form. But this coming Saturday, you can see that concept taken one step further with the Artspeak Fashionista! show. The event takes place ...
B for Buster book review
REVIEW | B for Buster | YA FICTION. The romance of military life fades quickly for a teen caught in battle. In Iain Lawrence’s book B for Buster, Kak, a 16-year old boy nicknamed for his Ontario ...