Desolation Blvd.

Photos copyright Darrol Hofmeister, sharpshooter photography. Click on images for larger versions.

First, a disclaimer. prairie dog pays me money. They point me in a direction, say "photograph this, that and/or the other thing." and about a month (or so) later, I get a cheque. Easy peasy, fun money that pays for...well...part of my phone bill or something.

One thing they DON'T tell me is what to think. (Well, Whitworth tries.)

As a VERY small business owner, I try to distance myself, at least in my own mind, from the socialist frothings spewed forth from Whitworth, Dechene, LaRose, et al as much as is possible. Sometimes I agree, sometimes I don't.

But I gotta tell ya, they got this one nailed.

In Dechene's story about City Hall's approval of the apartment complex in the Far East end, he complains that the development is in an, shall we say, inappropriate area ("Now Leaving Regina", July 2-15 prairie dog). Well, Paul, I'm happy to report that there are indeed sidewalks out there...but very little else. I'm a bit of a purist when it comes to journalistic photos, so the photo that accompanies the story wasn't messed with. Mr. Whitworth was with me at the time and, contrary to his nature, he did not knock down the sign (EDIT: which was, ironically, a public notice of the zoning change) and cover it with garbage. All is recorded as it was. This is one empty-ass lot. With no visible bus stops and barely visible from the future 4th floor amenities (grocery stores, convienience stores, gas stations, etc.) this place is practically isolated from the rest of the city.

As a far-flung surburbanite who owns a glass house, I will only half-heartedly chuck stones... but we need this development in the middle of the city, not the fringes.

Hell, this place's future tenants would have to drive for 10 minutes just to get to Regina's fringes.

Your cable bill is about to go up $10 a month …

… thanks to the CRTC (Inside the CBC). With this, the federal government has successfully forced the Canadian public to subsidize the business stupidity of Canwest and Bell Globemedia.

Bill Brioux (TV Feeds My Family) provides Satan in the details.

"One shocking little detail buried in the fine print in today's CRTC funding announcement: after all that whining from broadcasters--yes, those same "Save Local TV" guys--about how all those local news costs are breaking their business models, the CRTC has lowered the minimum local programming levels to 14 hours a week in big cities and just seven hours a week in "non-metropolitan markets." That is an hour a day. So here is more money--go out and do less."

An hour less local TV. Hmm. Are some of these guys about to get layoff notices? (CTV Regina)

A Michael Jackson Video Of Note

Michael Jackson and Bubbles, Jeff Koons, 1988, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art permanent collection


The service for MJ is underway in L.A., and all's okay. Crowds are smaller than expected and celeberties are plentiful. But is all this fuss something Jackson would've wanted? Don't care actually but it's an excuse to post a link to the video for "Leave Me Alone" (Wikipedia), which one of my all-time favourites. (Actually the director of this video, Jim Blashfield, has at least three other videos that I love: Peter Gabriel's "Big Time" and "Sledgehammer", and the freaking awesome Talking Heads song "Road To Nowhere". [CORRECTION: This post has been edited to remove my ignorant lies. Those other videos were directed by Stephen R. Johnson. Ignore the text in grey. Lies!]

Anyway, I couldn't find a quality version with a swipable embed so you'll have to actually click through the link. Which is here.

Rosie LaRose's Tuesday Top Six

1. NOT ENOUGH FINGERS AND TOES You have problems when your minister of finance can't count. (Impolitical) And that's why Prime Minister Harper hates the parliamentary budget office (TorStar).

2. DON STANDS ALONE Note to Don Morgan: when you become the laughingstock of Murray Wood (CJME) Murray Mandryk (L-P) and the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix editorial board (S-P via The Jurist), you've endorsed a dumb idea.

3. ALWAYS BLAME THE PEON If this is true, well ... if that's the way the Conservative government treats its employees, it doesn't deserve to have any. (A BCer in Toronto)

4. LAYING MICHAEL TO REST Today's the day of Micheal Jackson's memorial. The LA Times has full-blown coverage here, here, here, here, here, here, maybe here too, and also here. And don't forget, here. One New York Times columnist probably won't be welcome. (NYT)

5. IT'S NOT JUST IRAN Ethnic violence in China is on the upswing. (Los Angeles Times)

6. BECAUSE I LIKE YOU AND WANT YOU TO SMILE Here's nice little treasure on line: three blogger's 25 favourite Calvin and Hobbes cartoons (Progressive Boink).