Monthly Archive: August 2008

The gang that couldn’t write straight

If The Globe and Mail hadn’t posted this story on their own website, I might not believe it. Canada’s national newspaper has signed a long-term printing contract with Transcontinental Inc. for $1.7 billion, yes billion, that runs from 2010 to 2028. Does the Globe know something that other newspapers don’t? Do they really think there will still be carriers throwing copies on doorsteps twenty years from now? What about the growing numbers of people who only read newspapers on the web or, long before 2028, via some other form of delivery? Or, just as likely, what if circulation continues to...

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The Americanization of me

In The Americanization of Emily, the 1964 classic film about D-Day, the storyline is not about how the English motor pool driver played by Julie Andrews becomes more like a Yank so much as it’s about how James Garner, American aide to an Admiral, becomes more British. The movie is a preachy tale about the virtues of war, or the lack thereof, focused on Garner’s altered state as he touts his lack of courage in battle. It’s also a witty look at the American propaganda machine, something that we Canadians like to think we’re immune to. I’m just back from...

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The mything man

Imagine my delight when I read about “a major Michelangelo exhibition” opening next week in Syracuse, New York, with works from Florence, an exhibit that will move to New York City later in the year. Imagine my disappointment when I went online and learned that the “major” exhibit, entitled “Michelangelo: The Man and the Myth,” has only fourteen items by the Man himself. Nor did my excitement grow when I read that eight of the works (five drawings and three manuscript pages) have never before been seen in the United States. According to the hype, “the exhibition will explore multiple...

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