Looking for The Iron Heel

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Searching, in vain, for Jack London in Ottawa.

I spent a good three hours walking around tonight looking for a copy of The Iron Heel by Jack London. It is the first of five novels on the reading list for my english class. Every other student must have been proactive about getting books for this class, because all these stores (all nine of them!) were out of stock.

Octopus Books – Bank Street and Third Avenue
Patrick McGahern Books – Bank Street and Third Avenue
Dragon Tail Bookshop – Bank Street and Fourth Avenue
Book Bazaar – Bank Street and Frank Street
The Book Company – Bank Street and Slater Street
Chapters – Rideau Street and Sussex Drive
Sunnyside Bookshop – Dalhousie Street and Murray Street
Argosy Books –  Dalhousie Street and Guigues Avenue
The Book Market – Dalhousie Street and Rideau Street

Can’t believe I walked this far in the cold only to come home empty handed. On the bright side, the War Memorial looked so pretty tonight:

Update 01/26/10:
I did end up getting The Iron Heel from Octopus Books. It’s less than 300 pages and it took forever to get through.

 

Class of 2010

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This is what I did on Friday.

gradapp2

“hotmail.com

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You thought driving on the other side of the road was hard.

I’m bad at proofreading my emails on a good day. But I’m all backwards in this little city of Cambridge. This is going to take some getting used to: my @ sign and ” button are swapped on the keyboards. Is this a universal UK thing?

Honourable mentions:

# is hanging out next to enter.

Shift + 3 = £

England Shows You a Way Out

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Watching out for your health and safety.

 

 Trotting around London I’ve noticed some intersting aspects of the city.

We say exit, they say way out.

We say leash, they say lead.

 We say watch your step, they say mind the gap.

But enough of us and them. Every person I’ve spoken to has been incredibly helpful and polite to a bumbling Canadian tourist such as myself.

The most helpful thing so far: on every crosswalk in London the painted directions LOOK RIGHT and LOOK LEFT.

Update 07/19/09:
Captured a picture of the warning! 

 No accidents so far!

A Funny Thing Happened in Front of the CBC Building

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Step 1: Take off shoe. Step 2: Put your foot in your mouth.

The CBC announced 800 jobs are going to be cut. On Thursday, there was going to be a town hall meeting for employees. We are a group of three journalism students on a same-day TV assignment. The news is scary, but the story is newsy. To the CBC building we go.

Location: Sparks Street
Mood: Optimistic

Our reporter is speaking to two women standing outside the doors to the building. Many of the CBC employees don’t want to talk to us, probably because they’re not sure what’s going on themselves.

Somehow, our reporter persuades the women to go on camera. The first woman, wearing a CBC jacket, gives us a great interview and some even better advice on what to do as young journalists when our industry is facing hard times. She reminds young people to be passionate about what they do, and wait it out when times are tough.

We ask her how she feels, knowing that her job may be on the line. Will her job be one of the 800 cut?

She responds with a very confident no. She say’s that she’s been at the CBC a while and seniority holds a lot of weight.

We wrap up the interview. Oh, and one more thing. Can you please say and spell your name for the camera?

“Kathleen Petty. K-A-T-H-L-E-E-N P-E-T-T-Y.”

Oh boy. We all burst out laughing.

Yes, we spoke to Kathleen Petty on Thursday about CBC job cuts and we didn’t even realize it until the end.

What a rookie mistake. If I become a journalism prof one day, this can be my witty anecdote for the first day of class.

Atheist Bus Rides the TTC

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Ask and You Shall Receive

Today, Philip Chin from the Canadian Atheist Bus Campaign sent me a link to FLIKR pictures of the Atheist Bus ads on the side of some TTC busses.

“I think the pictures add a degree or normalcy and tangibility to the campaign. Once people see the ads running for a few weeks in Toronto without any problems, hopefully they’ll be more receptive to us in other parts of the country,” said Chin in the email.

Check out the slideshow here.

Read Kicked off the bus, an editorial in the Ottawa Citizen by Justin Trottier, president of the Freethought Association of Canada.

Photo courtesy of Philip Chin from the Canadian Atheist Bus Campaign.

All Aboard the Atheist Bus

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The Little Campaign that Could

Well there seems to be quite an uproar in Ottawa about the Atheist Bus ads.

Early last week, Ottawa was picked to be the next city for the Atheist Bus Campaign.

OC Transpo rejected the ads, and the Freethought Association faces a lot of challenges ahead before the campaign gets approval in Ottawa.

The matter will be further explored before full city council next Wednesday.

The ads were expected to roll out on Toronto buses this week, but I haven’t seen one yet. Here’s hoping.

Atheist Bus Campaign Coming to Ottawa

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Don’t Worry, Just Enjoy Life.

The Freethough Association of Canada wants to put Atheist advertisements on the side of OC Transpo busses.

Atheist Bus Ad

My first Centretown News story went live today. Check it out here. 

Photo courtesy of atheistbus.ca

Graffiti in the Glebe

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The Bank Street Blemish

It’s not charming, quaint or cozy. Graffiti just doesn’t fit in the Glebe.

 Ethik tag on a Bank Street alley.

Is graffiti meant to shock you with a message, or is the act of tagging buildings shocking enough in itself?.  

Graffiti above the Body Shop and Magpie Jewellery.

If you manage to spot the graffiti on Bank Street, you will notice they are bold enough to stop you in your tracks. It will make you pause for a second and think. The kind of thinking where you turn your head to the side and say, “Now wait just one minute.”

Small tag at Bank and 5th Avenue.

Somehow, the graffiti artists have managed to make them blend seamlessly into the background of the busy street.

Rainbow tags on a dumpster.

Taking a second look at the graffiti on Bank Street is enough to make you stop and turn your head to the side, thinking “How charming.”