Canada’s poo problem
ENVIRONMENT | Is there more poo in Canada than anywhere else in the world? Possibly. Look, Canada is a pretty great place to live. It’s relatively affluent, statistically healthy, and ...
Stuart McLean’s Stories from the Vinyl Cafe (10th anniversary edition)
BOOKS | Stories from the Vinyl Café, 10th anniversary edition | PENGUIN Canada, 2005 Stuart McLean may look like a boring old dude from the CBC, but his writing is actually funny. Don’t believe ...
What not to read: a listicle
BOOKS | Sometimes knowing what not to read is as important as knowing what you should. Particularly since the bestseller list can be deceiving. So what to read? Well, I write about books and ...
How to have the laziest weekend ever
HOW TO | Get your lazy on. It’s just not right. Instead of spending our weekends doing as the good lord intended (you know, watching TV, playing video games, eating vast amounts of cheese), these ...
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 ...