Author: dave Page 66 of 75

It’s an interesting question…one made more interesting after reading this story about Wal-Mart’s attempts to refurbish its ailing public image.

Now, this is a company that has never been particularly concerned about what people thought about it — as long as they kept shopping there. And they have. The statistics cited by Kelly Hearn of Alternet are truly astounding:

A report co-authored by the Project for Excellence in Journalism and citing statistics by Deutsche Bank Securities, shows superstores’ chunk of the general merchandise market went from 16 percent in 1992 to 50 percent in 2004. From 1991 to 2004, retail ad growth at newspapers shrunk from 4 percent to 1 percent.

So there’s a certain irony in Wal-Mart wanting to get local newspaper support to help it restore it’s image.

But what I find interesting about this story is that it challenges me (at least) to wonder about whether I let issues like this influence my buying decisions. Does it matter to me what kind of labour record a company has, or whether they are driving small, locally-owned companies out of business? Apparently not, if I can buy a discounted DVD for a few bucks less. Or pick up a pair of pefectly good jeans for less than I can anywhere else. Certainly, the rate of growth for Wal-Mart, and similar “big-box superstores” shows no signs of abating. Perhaps it won’t.

But there’s this part of me that keeps wondering whether I should be more concerned. Should I consider larger issues when I spend my hard-earned dollars? Does the fact that I might save a few justify the hardships that, by extension, are exerted on others because of Wal-Mart’s success? On the other hand, what about the people that work at Wal-Mart? They seem happy enough with the company they work for. In fact, Wal-Mart ranked #8 on this year’s Top 50 Employers in Canada by the Report on Business.

At the end of the day, where you shop and why is a personal decision. But increasingly, there are a lot of factors to take into consideration. For a long time, I think most of us simply watched and listened to stories about corporate activities without letting it become personal. But recent events, like the ethical and accounting scandals on Wall St. and Bay St. and at companies like Enron, combined with revelations at home like the Gomery Inquiry into Adscam are making people re-evaluate their personal stake in what’s going on around them.

As Bell Canada explains it, “We are all connected.”

I’ve always had a problem with the concept of publication bans imposed on legal proceedings. Because they imply a hierarchy of access that is inappropriate and they’re doomed to fail. We all know that some people in the courtroom are hearing the evidence, and deciding how to act because of it, but those who depend on the media for information are denied that same right. It’s an articifical distinction that isn’t appropriate.

So the decision to ban publication of what’s been happening at the Gomery inquiry into the sponsorship scandal within the Liberal party is wrong, in my view. And in today’s world, with the Internet and blogs like this one, etc., it didn’t take long for the sheer folly of that ban to become evident.

On Friday, after the latest testimony in Montreal, the buzz started in Ottawa that what was being said was so sensational that we might see a snap federal election because of it. That’s pretty sensational, but what made it even sexier (in theory, at least) was the fact that no one could actually talk about what was really said.

Enter the bloggers. Almost immediately, a U.S.-based blog started publishing the details and it didn’t take long for a lot of people to start reading about it, throwing the whole question about the relevancy of the original ban into question, as this story in the Globe and Mail points out.

As a confirmed news junkie, I wanted to know what that testimony was and it didn’t take me long to find out, or at least to find some comments about it. However, I’m mindful of the ban on coverage, so I hesitate to provide a direct link to what I’ve found. But I will tell you that I went to Feedster, typed in Gomery Ban in the search button and clicked on the first result. I found what I was looking for right away. You might want to do the same.

But the end result is interesting, because while the testimony does seem sensational, it’s posted on a blog that’s obviously not a fan of the Liberal party, so you have to ask yourself whether the reports are as accurate as they should be. But until Canadian journalists are allowed to write about what happened, we won’t really know whether what we’re hearing now is accurate or not.

But it sure is interesting.

Who says there’s nothing helpful on the Internet? Well, no one that I know of. But I like to start posts with a question.

One site that I read faily regularly is called 43 Folders. It’s a collection of useful stuff, mostly highlighting programs for the Mac and productivity tips. He’s pretty taken with GTD and if you don’t know what that stands for, go here.

This past week (the first of the month, actually), it had a helpful list of “hacks” that you could follow to improve your productivity. For example:

1 — Pencils are a great way to write things down.
2 — Sharpen new pencils soon after you’ve bought them, so you can use them to write things down more easily.
3 — Make sure you put gas in your car, or it won’t run very far after you’ve bought it, and then you’ll have trouble getting to work.

There’s a lot more on the list. See for yourself.

Most of you probably know that rowing has become a big part of my life since my two daughters have become involved with the sport here in Hamilton. And now Jaime is rowing for the University of Victoria on the West Coast.

I didn’t know much about the sport, but I’ve become hooked, to put it mildly. So I thought I’d let you know about one of the biggest events of the year, The Boat Race, which is running Easter Sunday at about 2 pm, London time (10 am EST).

It’s the annual challenge race between the crews from Oxford and Cambridge that’s been going on for 150 years each spring in London. This is a big event in London, with major newspaper, TV and radio coverage in the days leading up to the race itself. Over 250,000 people will line the banks of the Thames River in the centre of London to watch, and you can even listen live if you want, over the Internet.

I had hoped that it might be on TV here in Canada, but while TSN has the rights to show the race, I can’t find any mention of it in their schedule. Nor can I find anyone who’s offering a live video feed over the Internet.

The BBC has been the official media sponsor of the race in past years (view the 2004 race here if you have a Real Audio player) but this year, ITV has been given the rights.

There’s also a nice Canadian angle to this year’s race, as reported here in today’s Globe and Mail.

Even if you’re not much into rowing, you’ll have fun checking out all the stuff about the race on the various websites. It’s a big deal for a lot of us.

UPDATE — Oxford beat Cambridge on Sunday.

…then I woke up, curled up in the fetal position, in a cornfield in Saskatchewan.

Yes, I was abducted by aliens a few weeks ago. How else to explain my lengthy absence from the world of Daily Upload?

No? Not buying that? All right. I guess I can’t really blame you.

But the part about Saskatchewan, if not the corn field, is kind of true. I have spent some time out there in the last couple of weeks. I was there for my Mom’s 83rd birthday. We had a great party for her and she seemed to have a really good time. I was glad that I had made the effort to fly out there. All the more so since the next day, she had another stroke.

Unfortunately, the stroke seems to have affected her memory more than some of the previous ones (she has a history of these TIA’s or mini-strokes.) Right now, a week later, she remembers that she had fun on her birthday, but she doesn’t remember that I was there. Sigh. We’ll just wait and see.

On a somewhat related note, I don’t know about you, but I’m having a lot of trouble with this whole circus around the Terri Schiavo.

The “wrongness” of what politicians are doing in the US is overwhelming. I don’t know what the right answer is in that case, but I do know that it is not something that should be played out in public like this. It’s an intensely private, personal tragedy and there’s no way we should be participating.

Two articles today grabbed my attention as insightful pieces on this controversy, although they come at it from different perspectives.

The first, from Salon.com is a first-person account of another family’s story about their decision to end their brain-damaged son’s life and the angst it caused them.

The second is a superb analysis from Rick Salutin in today’s GlobeandMail. I’m not sure whether this is available on-line without a subscription. If it isn’t, and you want to read it, drop me a line and I’ll e-mail you a copy.

Death is a part of life. But that simple logic is hard to accept when the real thing faces us directly. And sometimes media events like Terri Schiavo’s sad situation force us to confront our own feelings. I know that it’s made me that much more likely to draft my own living will, so that my family never has to go through anything like that.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has put together a funny Shockwave movie about some poor guy who wants to order a pizza. The problem is that the One Big Database (a dream of American homeland security enthusiasts) has made it a tough call. Check out the movie and form your own conclusion. It’s an interesting use of the power of the Web to warn about the power of the Web.

I used to be a reporter, so I’ve watched the stories coming out of Iraq with a professional interest.

Today, Radio Netherland has a good story about what it’s like to be an independent reporter covering the war in Iraq.

It’s shocking how many journalists have been killed covering that war. And few, if any of the killings are even being investigated. This is a story worth reading, if you want another view of the way you’ve been getting the news from Baghdad.

These brave journalists deserve our respect.

And in the same vein, here’s one about how tough life in Iraq is for an independent journalist.

Finally, here’s an interesting piece about the flap over some swear words in a PBS documentary that was supposed to run on US TV. It’s not strictly about Iraq, but it ties in to what we’ve been talking about.

(Thanks to MediaChannel.org for these links.)

Last night, I finally saw Finding Neverland (watch the trailer), the latest Johnny Depp movie based on the life of J.M. Barrie and his play, Peter Pan.

It was fabulous. That’s not a word I use lightly. But I loved every minue of it. The script is great, the acting is top notch, the cinematography is breathtaking and the performances of the children (especially the young Peter) are thrilling. My, how I gush! In fact, I get a lump in my throat just thinking about the movie again this morning.

Last night, I found I couldn’t even talk about it as we left the theatre. I was still choked up.

So what was it I responded to so strongly in this charming, low-key, lovingly-crafted story?

I think it was that this movie was so un-Hollywood. It’s a story about a young man, seemingly in a difficult relationship with his beautiful wife, who befriends a young widow with four young boys. They begin spending every afternoon together and it’s obvious the man is falling in love with the boys and their mother.

It goes without saying that in most modern movies, the story would quickly raise the spectres of child molestation, inappropriate touching, perhaps adultery, debauchery, abuse. Those are themes that we run across in almost all of our popular culture. It is so prevalent that it’s almost taken for granted.

But in Finding Neverland, we gradually realize that we are not going to go down that road. Barrie’s love for the children is real and is not warped, or dirty. He thrills the boys with tales spun from his and their imagination. And those tales, and their shared adventures become the basis for his most brilliant creations — Neverland, Peter Pan, Tinkerbelle, the Lost Boys. It’s a fabulous story and it plays out before us in a beautiful blend of fact and fantasy.

There is a great line in the movie where Dustin Hoffman, the cynical but supportive producer who puts on Barrie’s fanciful play, bemoans the state of the theatre (this is the 1920’s). The critics taken the fun out of theatre, he tells Barrie. They’ve made it too serious and forgotten why it’s called a “play.”

Perhaps that’s what’s happening today. Hyper-realism, helped by computer graphics, gritty dialogue and modern technology, have given us a whole slew of movies that explore the dark side of the human condition. But we can have too much of that. Sure, we still have Shrek, and Shark Tale, which supposedly give us the “other” point of view. But all too often, people that make movies fall into the trap of thinking that real life should be depressing. And they’re not necessarily wrong. But when I go to the movies, I like to be made to feel good, as well.

I guess I’m tired of always being told about how wretched things are. How even the things that feel good or make us happy are probably bad for someone else, or ruining our children’s future. Maybe that’s why Finding Neverland is my choice for Best Picture.

I can’t believe how long it’s been since I posted anything here. Time can sure get away on you when you get busy.

I’ve been going non-stop on a few jobs lately, designing web pages for some new clients. It’s a lot of fun for me, and I’m learning lots of new skills. But it’s time consuming and meeting various deadlines have kept me chained to the computer for a long time.

You’d think that since I’m sitting at the computer all day, it would be easy to post something, wouldn’t you? Well…wouldn’t you? I would. But I’d be wrong.

At any rate, this is to let you all know that I’m still in the business, despite the rather alarming front page on my website. But redesigning that site with some new business content is right there on my to-do list.

Today, I took the early commuter train into Toronto for a client meeting. I’d forgotten just how crazy the commuting life is! I can’t say I miss that routine. The zombies on the train, snoozing and drooling all the way in at such a ludicrous hour, followed by the frantic rushing to get off the train and pile into Union Station. What a crazy way to spend so much of each day. Oh well…it’s a different view when you only see it occasionally.

I’d point you to the work I’m doing but it’s not quite ready for prime time yet. But these sites will be part of my new client gallery on the new site. I’m looking forward to it.