I give up. I just can't watch the CBC News Network anymore. Not for a while at least. Not until all of this Rob Ford stuff has blown over.
For the last little while, CBC News Network has been doing its best job to imitate CNN with its extensive, in depth, overblown, overdone coverage of what is going on in Toronto, also known in some Canadian circles as the centre of the Universe.
Having lived outside of Canada I can safely say it isn't. In fact, the place I used to call home was way bigger, more beautiful, and a far more interesting place than boring Toronto ever could be.
I guess News Network figures it is giving its audience what it believes it wants.
I love how big of a deal it is because it is getting recognized and reported outside of Canada on networks like CNN, and on programs like The Daily Show.
It's almost as if foreign coverage, in particular American foreign coverage seems to give the story more validity or relevance.
Well I've had it.
I started watching the news a lot this year because as a journalism student I feel it is very important to keep up to date with what is going on in the world.
I do have to write current event quizzes so this does provide a bit of the inspiration for my sudden interest in news, but seeing as I don't have to take another current events' news quiz until next semester (watch the class get a current events' news quiz tomorrow - if we do it's my fault and I want to apologize to the rest of the class) I think I'm going to skip watching the news, and in particular, CBC News Network for the next little while.
Hopefully when I start watching again in the new year all of this stupidity will be off the air.
cheers
rymr
Monday 18 November 2013
Monday 11 November 2013
The Jets Get it Right
Last night's Winnipeg Jets' game was a little bit special. It wasn't because the Jets were able to win the game in a shootout, but because the team and the organization took the time before the game to honour a veteran of World War Two, a season ticket holder and a fixture at most Jets' home games.
During the national anthem at the MTS Centre the fans get loud when they emphasize the True North part of the song. Another tradition tied to the national anthem before the game is to show Len Kopiaski saluting up on the jumbotron scoreboard.
During last night's game they brought him out onto the ice surface. He needed his walker to stand up some of the time, but most of the time he was using one of his hands to prop up his usual salute.
At the end of the song he was again shown on the scoreboard and given a louder than usual round of applause from the appreciative fans.
Last year I actually sat just a few seats over from where he sits. During one of the period breaks a few of the fans came up to him and shook his hand. They even asked for a picture and he was kind enough to oblige them.
Usually at the MTS Centre, the fans are cheering on their sports' heroes. Although that was the case last night, at least for some time the sports' heroes had to share the applause.
It wasn't just for Len Kopiaski, but for all soldiers who have served.
I'll stand for that any time.
cheers
rymr
During the national anthem at the MTS Centre the fans get loud when they emphasize the True North part of the song. Another tradition tied to the national anthem before the game is to show Len Kopiaski saluting up on the jumbotron scoreboard.
During last night's game they brought him out onto the ice surface. He needed his walker to stand up some of the time, but most of the time he was using one of his hands to prop up his usual salute.
At the end of the song he was again shown on the scoreboard and given a louder than usual round of applause from the appreciative fans.
Last year I actually sat just a few seats over from where he sits. During one of the period breaks a few of the fans came up to him and shook his hand. They even asked for a picture and he was kind enough to oblige them.
Usually at the MTS Centre, the fans are cheering on their sports' heroes. Although that was the case last night, at least for some time the sports' heroes had to share the applause.
It wasn't just for Len Kopiaski, but for all soldiers who have served.
I'll stand for that any time.
cheers
rymr
Monday 4 November 2013
Winnipeg's Great War
Ever since I read the book "All Quiet on the Western Front" I have been facinated by the history of World War One. This passion was furthered after watching the great series on the Canadian HIstory Channel, For King and Empire, hosted by Norm Christie. The book, Winnipeg's Great War, is not about military history. Jim Blanchard, author of the book told our class that he didn't want readers looking for a book on military history to be dissapointed. This book is about the social history of Winnipeg.
The title of the book draws inspiration from the name originally given to the First World War. It was called 'The Great War".
As a Canadian who is of Mennonite decent I was very interested to read about how my ancestors were affected by the First World War.
In case you don't know Mennonites are a pacifist group that came to Canada because we were kicked out of every other country because we didn't want to fight in any wars.
We also wanted to be able to preserve our language and our culture. The book deals with the culture of Winnipeg at the time and how this affected the school system.
Winnipeg was a very different place during this period in history. It wasn't the multicultural society that we have today. It was a society that considered itself British first and then Canadian. This would change after the war.
One comment Blanchard made as he spoke to our class stuck out at me. He felt that the Canadians who had fought in the war had done 'the right thing'.
There's no questioning the bravery that the soldiers fighting in the first war, or any war for that matter, have inside them.
But I do question whether or not what they did was 'the right thing'.
World War One was wholesale slaughter such that the world had never seen before. It was new technology such as the machine gun, combined with barbed wire to create killing zones where nothing could survive.
Earlier tactics were now useless to the commanders who had been put in place, not because of ability but because of birth, status or patronage.
Things would have to change but before they were, countless numbers of people were senslessly slaughtered. Territorial gains were measured in meters.
But this wasn't a book about military history, so perhaps I was a little disapointed by that.
It did seem to go on tangents a lot and lacked focus. Chapters seemed to go everywhere and it was hard to follow at times. Characters came in and out of the book. Some received a sentence, other paragraphs and pages.
If anything, for me it lacked a heart - something to tie it all together.
As part of this assignment I went and shot some video footage of places mentioned in the book.
I went to the Manitoba Legislature where there is a statue to commemorate all those who died in the war.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8WebcKjmCM
The next stop was City hall. The new city hall was erected on the same sight as the old one which was designed by Charles and Earl Barber. For more information on them and the old building check out this link: http://timemachine.siamandas.com/PAGES/winnipeg_stories/CITYHALL1.htm
The old city hall is gone, but I did have a chance to take some video across the street at two of the buildings designed by the same architects which are now a part of the downtown campus of Red
River College.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3U0faGvtHHA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFZtmo5rhbM&feature=youtu.be
After visiting city hall I decided to take a stop at Valour Road. On Portage avenue there is a nice sign with a First World War soldier on it. On the street itself is a gold light post with a plaque and a reef to commemorate the three soldiers who were born on this street, had enlisted together and all won the Victoria Cross. Sadly, two of these soldiers died during the war.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gcs0GgIGXPc
Click on any of the links to see some of the video I shot of these sights in Winnipeg.
cheers
rymr
The title of the book draws inspiration from the name originally given to the First World War. It was called 'The Great War".
As a Canadian who is of Mennonite decent I was very interested to read about how my ancestors were affected by the First World War.
In case you don't know Mennonites are a pacifist group that came to Canada because we were kicked out of every other country because we didn't want to fight in any wars.
We also wanted to be able to preserve our language and our culture. The book deals with the culture of Winnipeg at the time and how this affected the school system.
Winnipeg was a very different place during this period in history. It wasn't the multicultural society that we have today. It was a society that considered itself British first and then Canadian. This would change after the war.
One comment Blanchard made as he spoke to our class stuck out at me. He felt that the Canadians who had fought in the war had done 'the right thing'.
There's no questioning the bravery that the soldiers fighting in the first war, or any war for that matter, have inside them.
But I do question whether or not what they did was 'the right thing'.
World War One was wholesale slaughter such that the world had never seen before. It was new technology such as the machine gun, combined with barbed wire to create killing zones where nothing could survive.
Earlier tactics were now useless to the commanders who had been put in place, not because of ability but because of birth, status or patronage.
Things would have to change but before they were, countless numbers of people were senslessly slaughtered. Territorial gains were measured in meters.
But this wasn't a book about military history, so perhaps I was a little disapointed by that.
It did seem to go on tangents a lot and lacked focus. Chapters seemed to go everywhere and it was hard to follow at times. Characters came in and out of the book. Some received a sentence, other paragraphs and pages.
If anything, for me it lacked a heart - something to tie it all together.
As part of this assignment I went and shot some video footage of places mentioned in the book.
I went to the Manitoba Legislature where there is a statue to commemorate all those who died in the war.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8WebcKjmCM
The next stop was City hall. The new city hall was erected on the same sight as the old one which was designed by Charles and Earl Barber. For more information on them and the old building check out this link: http://timemachine.siamandas.com/PAGES/winnipeg_stories/CITYHALL1.htm
The old city hall is gone, but I did have a chance to take some video across the street at two of the buildings designed by the same architects which are now a part of the downtown campus of Red
River College.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3U0faGvtHHA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFZtmo5rhbM&feature=youtu.be
After visiting city hall I decided to take a stop at Valour Road. On Portage avenue there is a nice sign with a First World War soldier on it. On the street itself is a gold light post with a plaque and a reef to commemorate the three soldiers who were born on this street, had enlisted together and all won the Victoria Cross. Sadly, two of these soldiers died during the war.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gcs0GgIGXPc
Click on any of the links to see some of the video I shot of these sights in Winnipeg.
cheers
rymr
Monday 28 October 2013
The Good and the Bad
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/harold-pollack/no-vaccines-arent-behind-_b_89305.html
Harold Pollack was mentioned by name by Trudy Lieberman during her speech. It was in reference to the coverage in the media about "Obama Care". According to Lieberman, Pollack has said somewhere that the coverage for Obama Care was 'the best ever'.
Her response to this was that we need to be 'careful of what we mean by good coverage'.
As an example of what I would consider good coverage of health care in the media, I would like to refer to a blog written by Pollack for the Huffington Post dealing with the belief that there is a link between vaccinations and Autism.
"Harold Pollack is Helen Ross Professor of Social Service Administration, and Faculty Chair of the Center for Health Administration Studies at the University of Chicago."
I like how early on he mentions how there are four million children born in America each year and that most of them will benefit from vacines. I also like that he mentions right after this that for some, vaccines are a problem.
He talks about the imperfect science behind vaccines, as well as warning of the dangers of spreading false information.
I also like that he posts links to reliable scientific data on the problem.
In his blog he talks about how there is no scientific data to support the link between autism and vaccines.
Later in the blog he shows evidence of a very real link between outbreaks of meazels amongst children who have not been vaccinated.
The numbers provided in this example are given in context, making them meaningful.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/oct/18/jeremy-hunt-elderly-care-asia
For my example of what I think isn't very good coverage of a health care issue I am citing this article from the Guardian which talks about the care of the elderly.
This article was written by Hans Schattle and it discusses how Jeremy Hunt is trying to encourage England to adopt a system for treating the elderly that is more like the system in Asia.
Having lived in one of the countries he mentions I have to admit there is some truth when he says that fewer and fewer people in Korea are tolerating living with their elderly relatives and that these elderly relatives are in trouble because many of them didn't have a pension, or had an insufficient pension. (the idea of a pension is a relatively new concept in this country - many elder people are forced to retire and then they work for themselves selling vegetables in the street)
The big problem with this is he doesn't give it any context and therefore it's hard to judge how much weight there is to this side of the argument.
The same is true when he says how there are three times as many elderly people who live in poverty. What does this mean? The way he puts it, it sounds like a lot, but since there are no numbers to back it up, it doesn't have a lot of weight.
He says that in Asia the younger generations are less willing to take care of the elderly. My question to him would be, less willing than what?
Since I don't know what it is being compared to, its hard for me to draw a conclusion as to what type of change has occurred, and truly how significant it is.
Harold Pollack was mentioned by name by Trudy Lieberman during her speech. It was in reference to the coverage in the media about "Obama Care". According to Lieberman, Pollack has said somewhere that the coverage for Obama Care was 'the best ever'.
Her response to this was that we need to be 'careful of what we mean by good coverage'.
As an example of what I would consider good coverage of health care in the media, I would like to refer to a blog written by Pollack for the Huffington Post dealing with the belief that there is a link between vaccinations and Autism.
"Harold Pollack is Helen Ross Professor of Social Service Administration, and Faculty Chair of the Center for Health Administration Studies at the University of Chicago."
I like how early on he mentions how there are four million children born in America each year and that most of them will benefit from vacines. I also like that he mentions right after this that for some, vaccines are a problem.
He talks about the imperfect science behind vaccines, as well as warning of the dangers of spreading false information.
I also like that he posts links to reliable scientific data on the problem.
In his blog he talks about how there is no scientific data to support the link between autism and vaccines.
Later in the blog he shows evidence of a very real link between outbreaks of meazels amongst children who have not been vaccinated.
The numbers provided in this example are given in context, making them meaningful.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/oct/18/jeremy-hunt-elderly-care-asia
For my example of what I think isn't very good coverage of a health care issue I am citing this article from the Guardian which talks about the care of the elderly.
This article was written by Hans Schattle and it discusses how Jeremy Hunt is trying to encourage England to adopt a system for treating the elderly that is more like the system in Asia.
Having lived in one of the countries he mentions I have to admit there is some truth when he says that fewer and fewer people in Korea are tolerating living with their elderly relatives and that these elderly relatives are in trouble because many of them didn't have a pension, or had an insufficient pension. (the idea of a pension is a relatively new concept in this country - many elder people are forced to retire and then they work for themselves selling vegetables in the street)
The big problem with this is he doesn't give it any context and therefore it's hard to judge how much weight there is to this side of the argument.
The same is true when he says how there are three times as many elderly people who live in poverty. What does this mean? The way he puts it, it sounds like a lot, but since there are no numbers to back it up, it doesn't have a lot of weight.
He says that in Asia the younger generations are less willing to take care of the elderly. My question to him would be, less willing than what?
Since I don't know what it is being compared to, its hard for me to draw a conclusion as to what type of change has occurred, and truly how significant it is.
Trudy Lieberman and the Affordable Care Act
Going in to see and hear Trudy Lieberman speak I didn't know very much about the American Health Care System, even with the constant coverage in the media over the U.S. government shutdown over the debt ceiling and what the Affordable Care Act, which has been given the name, Obama Care.
"Trudy Lieberman is a past president of the Association of Health Care Journalists in the U.S and she is visiting four Canadian cities this fall as a Fulbright Scholar and guest of the Evidence Network.".
During her speech she explained some of the differences between the Canadian and American systems.
She also specifically outlined some of the problems inherent in this system and how it has been making it harder for individuals without full time employment, who aren't receiving government support, to get health insurance.
She mentioned how there are people in America who may have health conditions like asthma (I have asthma), and how their policies will not cover these health conditions.
She also spoke about how these people often have to pay high insurance rates along with a high deductible.
The reason for this is that they don't have anyone to 'share the risk' when they go it alone with their health insurance.
The more people there are in a health plan, the more people there are to share the risk with.
With universal health care, Canadians share the risk with all other Canadians.
People in the U.S. who receive health coverage as a benefit of full time employment, share the risk with all of their fellow employees.
Much of her speech focused on how the media covers health care.
She was not happy with the press coverage of the Affordable Care Act. Her biggest complaint with it was that it didn't do enough to explain what it was to the public.
Another complaint she had was that she saw the press as a follower, when before, they used to go out and 'find the news'.
Balance was also a major subject she addressed. She was openly critical of what she referred to as 'he said, she said' journalism.
She did not feel every side or opinion deserved equal weight. The weight something was to be given was to be based on its validity.
A final major topic she discussed was 'the source', and she was very critical of every press agency relying on the same few, selected experts, especially when she wasn't sure of the authority that some of these so called experts had in their field.
She also spoke about not letting one person's story speak for everyone, especially if that person's story is not the typical story of everyone.
In such cases it was very important to remember that evidence should always be presented in the proper contexts in order to give it weight.
(more to come)
"Trudy Lieberman is a past president of the Association of Health Care Journalists in the U.S and she is visiting four Canadian cities this fall as a Fulbright Scholar and guest of the Evidence Network.".
During her speech she explained some of the differences between the Canadian and American systems.
She also specifically outlined some of the problems inherent in this system and how it has been making it harder for individuals without full time employment, who aren't receiving government support, to get health insurance.
She mentioned how there are people in America who may have health conditions like asthma (I have asthma), and how their policies will not cover these health conditions.
She also spoke about how these people often have to pay high insurance rates along with a high deductible.
The reason for this is that they don't have anyone to 'share the risk' when they go it alone with their health insurance.
The more people there are in a health plan, the more people there are to share the risk with.
With universal health care, Canadians share the risk with all other Canadians.
People in the U.S. who receive health coverage as a benefit of full time employment, share the risk with all of their fellow employees.
Much of her speech focused on how the media covers health care.
She was not happy with the press coverage of the Affordable Care Act. Her biggest complaint with it was that it didn't do enough to explain what it was to the public.
Another complaint she had was that she saw the press as a follower, when before, they used to go out and 'find the news'.
Balance was also a major subject she addressed. She was openly critical of what she referred to as 'he said, she said' journalism.
She did not feel every side or opinion deserved equal weight. The weight something was to be given was to be based on its validity.
A final major topic she discussed was 'the source', and she was very critical of every press agency relying on the same few, selected experts, especially when she wasn't sure of the authority that some of these so called experts had in their field.
She also spoke about not letting one person's story speak for everyone, especially if that person's story is not the typical story of everyone.
In such cases it was very important to remember that evidence should always be presented in the proper contexts in order to give it weight.
(more to come)
Monday 21 October 2013
My Day in Court
It was the first time I had ever been to the Manitoba provincial court. We were supposed to be there for 9:15 to meet up with the rest of the class, but we also had to get through security. Not knowing what to expect I showed up a half an hour early at 8:45.
I guess I was expecting it to be just like the airport and I didn't want to miss my flight.
After getting through security I made a left and headed towards the spot where all of the court cases for the day had been posted. In vain I tried to make sense of them, or to find something useful, but I wasn't able to find anything.
I sat down and spotted my journalism instructor as he looked over the court schedule. As he did a woman came up to him and gave him a big hug. As I went over to say hello I overheard that she was there to testify.
Soon after our instructor took us on a brief tour of where some of the court rooms were, as well as the spot on the main floor where they post information about cases for the media.
At 9:30 we met with James Turner from the Winnipeg Free Press. He gave us the low down and some tips as to where we might be able to find a good story.
For lunch we walked to Portage Place. It was cold out and I didn't have a hat. I had been worried about getting in trouble in the court room after our instructor advised us not to wear one. Two people tried to wear hats in court rooms I was in today. They were both told to take them off.
Apparently Brendan was hoping this was going to happen. He was hoping I would get in trouble. It would have given him a great story to write about, he would say during the break.
The deadline for the story was 6 pm and as time got closer, the pressure seemed to get stronger and stronger.
Lately I've discovered that deadlines stress me out. I guess I'm going to have to find a healthy way to deal with them. (are deadlines important for journalists?)
After I don't know how many revisions, I was finally able to hand my story in. I guess that means I'm going to have to apologize for killing so many trees.
Sorry trees.
rymr
I guess I was expecting it to be just like the airport and I didn't want to miss my flight.
After getting through security I made a left and headed towards the spot where all of the court cases for the day had been posted. In vain I tried to make sense of them, or to find something useful, but I wasn't able to find anything.
I sat down and spotted my journalism instructor as he looked over the court schedule. As he did a woman came up to him and gave him a big hug. As I went over to say hello I overheard that she was there to testify.
Soon after our instructor took us on a brief tour of where some of the court rooms were, as well as the spot on the main floor where they post information about cases for the media.
At 9:30 we met with James Turner from the Winnipeg Free Press. He gave us the low down and some tips as to where we might be able to find a good story.
For lunch we walked to Portage Place. It was cold out and I didn't have a hat. I had been worried about getting in trouble in the court room after our instructor advised us not to wear one. Two people tried to wear hats in court rooms I was in today. They were both told to take them off.
Apparently Brendan was hoping this was going to happen. He was hoping I would get in trouble. It would have given him a great story to write about, he would say during the break.
The deadline for the story was 6 pm and as time got closer, the pressure seemed to get stronger and stronger.
Lately I've discovered that deadlines stress me out. I guess I'm going to have to find a healthy way to deal with them. (are deadlines important for journalists?)
After I don't know how many revisions, I was finally able to hand my story in. I guess that means I'm going to have to apologize for killing so many trees.
Sorry trees.
rymr
Monday 14 October 2013
The Future of Journalism Revisited
Engagement.
I was watching an interview with Arianna Huffington, who founded the Huffington post on the Lang and O'Leary Exchange on CBC Newsworld and this word kept coming up. She was talking about the future of journalism.
At the beginning of the year all of the Journalism Majors at Red River College this year were asked to blog about what they felt the future of journalism was. Watching this interview reminded me and caused me to want to take a look back at what some of us had written.
I missed the point a little, and now, having given the matter some further thought, I would like to expand on what I said.
I focused on how some believe the rise of the citizen journalist and free internet content spells the imminent end of the profession of journalism.
Now I feel like my answer is incomplete.
Arianna Huffington said on the program that she wasn't sure exactly what the 'platform' would be to deliver journalism in the future. She even suggested that there could be many platforms.
The one common denominator she felt was engagement. She feels that the days of the journalist providing the news from up on high are over. Now it's all about the interaction between the journalist and the reader.
I have a little bit of first hand experience with this. For the last seven years or so I have had an online correspondence with Dave Molinari, who covers the Pittsburgh Penguins for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
I have to admit that as a journalist and a student of communications that I struggle with the social media. In 2007 I reluctantly signed up for Facebook, and that was only because I had just moved to Korea and didn't know anyone in the country.
As a journalist of the future I am going to have to do a lot more.
In terms of content this means being able to write, provide video, audio, and still pictures.
In terms of interaction, it means going on social web sites like Twitter, Facebook and others, not just
to write, but also to read.
Often as a journalist we are warned not to read the comments in the comment section of an article that they have published. I now think this is wrong, and the last thing we should do.
We need to read what the readers are writing. This means the good and the bad.
Huffington also spoke about the comments section and how the Huffington Post pre-screens their comments and no longer allows anonymous comments.
I'm not sure if I agree with not allowing anonymous comments because in some ways I think that is the only free speech that still truly exists.
I was watching an interview with Arianna Huffington, who founded the Huffington post on the Lang and O'Leary Exchange on CBC Newsworld and this word kept coming up. She was talking about the future of journalism.
At the beginning of the year all of the Journalism Majors at Red River College this year were asked to blog about what they felt the future of journalism was. Watching this interview reminded me and caused me to want to take a look back at what some of us had written.
I missed the point a little, and now, having given the matter some further thought, I would like to expand on what I said.
I focused on how some believe the rise of the citizen journalist and free internet content spells the imminent end of the profession of journalism.
Now I feel like my answer is incomplete.
Arianna Huffington said on the program that she wasn't sure exactly what the 'platform' would be to deliver journalism in the future. She even suggested that there could be many platforms.
The one common denominator she felt was engagement. She feels that the days of the journalist providing the news from up on high are over. Now it's all about the interaction between the journalist and the reader.
I have a little bit of first hand experience with this. For the last seven years or so I have had an online correspondence with Dave Molinari, who covers the Pittsburgh Penguins for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
I have to admit that as a journalist and a student of communications that I struggle with the social media. In 2007 I reluctantly signed up for Facebook, and that was only because I had just moved to Korea and didn't know anyone in the country.
As a journalist of the future I am going to have to do a lot more.
In terms of content this means being able to write, provide video, audio, and still pictures.
In terms of interaction, it means going on social web sites like Twitter, Facebook and others, not just
to write, but also to read.
Often as a journalist we are warned not to read the comments in the comment section of an article that they have published. I now think this is wrong, and the last thing we should do.
We need to read what the readers are writing. This means the good and the bad.
Huffington also spoke about the comments section and how the Huffington Post pre-screens their comments and no longer allows anonymous comments.
I'm not sure if I agree with not allowing anonymous comments because in some ways I think that is the only free speech that still truly exists.
Monday 7 October 2013
In the field
I can't help myself so I think I should just come right out and admit it. I enjoy doing field work as a journalism major.
I find it funny admitting to this especially after the rough beginning that I had to my career during first year journalism.
When we were given our first streeter assignment I was incredibly nervous. I also felt guilty.
"This is how people who work in call centers feel,"I thought.
I just felt like I was bothering people who were otherwise occupied, when I went up to them to kindly ask if they would answer a few questions for me.
We would have to get two quotes from two different people, so as soon as I got my second quote I would head back to class and try to write my story.
The only problem was the quotes I got weren't all that great. There was something incomplete in them because I had failed to ask the proper follow up questions.
I remember going to the Bomber game assignment last year and having this big sigh of relief when I saw someone I knew in the section I was sitting in. I felt this would be enough to get a story and I wouldn't have to 'bother' anyone at the football game.
I ended up only quoting one person and failing because I needed at least two. There had been others there, I was just too nervous to approach them.
I spoke with my first semester Jounralism instructor, and she told me that I should have a purpose in mind whenever I went out to interview someone. This idea really seemed to help.
Last summer I was in Korea shooting a documentary about English teachers. In total I ended up interviewing around thirty people from all over the world. Some of them were my friends and some were not.
I got a few of my interview subjects through Facebook. In Korea they have groups on Facebook for everything ex-pat related. I put a few posts on there and got a few hits.
One of my favourite interview sessions took place on a rooftop in Incheon, the sight of the famous amphibious landing that turned the tide of the Korean War.
I got a lot of practice at doing work in the field. The more I did, the more I started to realize how much I enjoyed going out and talking to people.
A few weeks ago, when my class covered Justin Trudeau's appearance in Lorette, I felt quite comfortable. I worked the room and in a way I felt like I owned it.
By the end people started coming up to me to talk, and they were not bothering me.
Something had changed. I had discovered that I really like what I do.
Afterwards I was so excited I couldn't sleep. Now I just gotta get over the anxiety I have over deadlines. If anyone has any advice, please let me know.
cheers,
rymr
I find it funny admitting to this especially after the rough beginning that I had to my career during first year journalism.
When we were given our first streeter assignment I was incredibly nervous. I also felt guilty.
"This is how people who work in call centers feel,"I thought.
I just felt like I was bothering people who were otherwise occupied, when I went up to them to kindly ask if they would answer a few questions for me.
We would have to get two quotes from two different people, so as soon as I got my second quote I would head back to class and try to write my story.
The only problem was the quotes I got weren't all that great. There was something incomplete in them because I had failed to ask the proper follow up questions.
I remember going to the Bomber game assignment last year and having this big sigh of relief when I saw someone I knew in the section I was sitting in. I felt this would be enough to get a story and I wouldn't have to 'bother' anyone at the football game.
I ended up only quoting one person and failing because I needed at least two. There had been others there, I was just too nervous to approach them.
I spoke with my first semester Jounralism instructor, and she told me that I should have a purpose in mind whenever I went out to interview someone. This idea really seemed to help.
Last summer I was in Korea shooting a documentary about English teachers. In total I ended up interviewing around thirty people from all over the world. Some of them were my friends and some were not.
I got a few of my interview subjects through Facebook. In Korea they have groups on Facebook for everything ex-pat related. I put a few posts on there and got a few hits.
One of my favourite interview sessions took place on a rooftop in Incheon, the sight of the famous amphibious landing that turned the tide of the Korean War.
I got a lot of practice at doing work in the field. The more I did, the more I started to realize how much I enjoyed going out and talking to people.
A few weeks ago, when my class covered Justin Trudeau's appearance in Lorette, I felt quite comfortable. I worked the room and in a way I felt like I owned it.
By the end people started coming up to me to talk, and they were not bothering me.
Something had changed. I had discovered that I really like what I do.
Afterwards I was so excited I couldn't sleep. Now I just gotta get over the anxiety I have over deadlines. If anyone has any advice, please let me know.
cheers,
rymr
Monday 30 September 2013
The Baseball of Journalism
“There is quality in quantity.”
Branch Rickey said this when he created
the minor league system for Major League Baseball in the early part of the 20th
century.
Rickey would later go on to integrate baseball as the general manager
of the Brooklyn Dodgers during the 1940s.
He invented the minor league system while he was working for the
St. Louis Cardinals, who didn't have the money to compete with the New York
Yankees when it came to signing players and finding new talent.
The
solution was to sign many players for less money in the hopes that one or two just might turn
out to be good.
I have the same approach to journalism when I’m out in the
field. I try to get as many quotes from as many people as possible. Most of
them don’t make it into the story. Having so many allows me to pick and choose,
keeping only the best.
I
had to try out this philosophy while I was in Korea shooting my documentary.
I’ve learned that I have a really good eye for photography. What I need to work
on are my technical skills, and how I am able to execute.
To
compensate for this, whenever I was shooting an interview I would make sure to
shoot from at least two different angles. The belief was that if the first one
didn’t turn out then hopefully the second one would.
A
person should never put all of their eggs in one basket, and by getting
multiple shots or multiple quotes; the eggs are getting placed in different
baskets so when one basket falls, not all of the footage goes down with it.
Ps. For fun, here’s a quote from the Simpsons to inspire: Apu, If It'll Make You Feel Any Better, I've Learned That Life Is One Crushing Defeat After Another Until You Just Wish Flanders Was Dead!
Monday 23 September 2013
Thank you Doosan (but I still don't like you)
If it weren’t for the Doosan Bears I wouldn’t have been
published in the Winnipeg Free Press last April, despite the fact that I hate
the Doosan Bears. As a fan of the LG Twins I feel compelled to despise them with
every part of my being.
(A little background information)
The Doosan Bears and the LG Twins are professional baseball
teams in Korea. They both share the same home stadium in the Jamsil Sports’
Complex. (the same complex used to host the 1988 summer Olympics – the Olympic
Stadium in the complex hosted the famous showdown between Ben Johnson and Carl
Lewis, won by Johnson who was later disqualified when he tested positive for
steroids.)
One of my favourite Korea stories took place at the baseball
stadium in the complex. My parents were visiting and staying at my apartment.
It was my place and my rules so my Dad was upset that he had to do my chores
and wasn’t allowed to smoke.
We were at Burger King and my Dad had just finished so he
went outside, as he often had to do, to go for a cigarette. As I talked to my
Mom inside the restaurant in the baseball stadium, I saw my Dad turn and start
to talk to a stranger, only to me it wasn’t a stranger, it was Norm Jensen,
someone I had gone to University with (in the 90s), knew was in Korea but
hadn’t seen yet.
During my first semester at Red River College I happened to
spot someone in the Atrium wearing a Doosan Bears hat. Instantly I knew he was
from Korea. I went up and introduced myself as a former English teacher who had
lived for three years in his home country.
Back in April when news about Korea was in the papers and on
the news casts everyday I pitched a story to the Projector. Because of my
experience I knew there wasn’t very much to the stories and that nothing would
happen (no war yet and as a further side note, this summer I conducted an
interview with my friend Trevor who spent a week in North Korea in April)
Luckily I ran into Peter again in the Atrium. He wasn’t wearing
his Doosan Bears' hat. I started up a conversation and he allowed me to
interview him about the situation between North and South Korea.
He told me he was a captain in the Korean reserves and would have to go back to Korea if a war broke out. If he didn’t go back he
could face jail time.
As a journalist this got me excited.
Monday 16 September 2013
Never Interview a Stranger
When I had to do my first street interview (or streeter)
during first year journalism I was terrified. I felt like a young teenage boy
nervously trying to ask the girl I had a crush on out. I was shaking, sweating,
and questioning exactly what the heck I had gotten myself into.
I struggled mightily early on in my first year of
journalism. I have nightmares and toss and turn in bed at the thought of
my instructors having future students critiquing my early work, and tearing it
to shreds.
For a while, I just wasn’t getting it.
Other times I felt dirty, like during a streeter, or the Bomber assignment when I felt like a telemarketer bothering people while they were on their free time.
Other times I felt dirty, like during a streeter, or the Bomber assignment when I felt like a telemarketer bothering people while they were on their free time.
I got some really good advice from my first semester
instructor who told me to go out ‘with a purpose’. I guess I needed to go out
knowing what kind of a story I was telling, why I was telling it, and whom I
was telling it to.
The other piece of advice I got, from my other instructor,
was that an interview wasn’t a normal conversation and that I shouldn’t confuse
it with one.
I need to remember this because sometimes I get off topic
when I need to keep my focus and stay on the subject at hand.
I need to forget this, when I am talking to the person I am
interviewing so they will let their guard down, and tell me things even they
don’t want me to know.
Over the course of the summer I interviewed about thirty
people for my documentary about English teachers in Korea. A lot of these were
long conversations where I just let the person go on. I was just interested to
see which direction they would go.
Now when I have to ask for an interview it’s a lot easier. I
don’t have to psyche myself up anymore before I make the ‘dreaded’ phone call.
For my radio assignment I got quotes from at least five
different people and was still ready and willing to stay out and pursue more.
One of the things I liked about living in Korea was that a
person was allowed to talk to strangers while there. Turns out it’s something I
also like about journalism.
Monday 9 September 2013
Life in the ‘big’ city
I’m not sure if it still says this but when you used to
drive into town there was a sign that would say : Winnipeg, one great city. I
always thought it should say : Winnipeg, we are SO a city.
Growing up in Westwood, I was often reminded of the unicity
concept when I went to the local mall of the same name. (it’s no longer there)
It’s not so much one unit as it is a collection of smaller
ones.
I never really noticed the difference until I moved to Korea
and lived in the province that surrounds Seoul and is known as Gyeonggi-do.
Somewhere between twenty-five and thirty million people live
in the Seoul metropolitan area. (roughly the population of Canada)
Seven million people use the subway system everyday.
After I got back from living there for a few years, things
seemed a lot different. I certainly had a lot more personal space and
everything seemed open and free.
The difference was really clear as I drove to the Paul
McCartney concert this summer. The whole time I kept wondering what happened to
all of the people and the buildings.
Where did they all go? Did they just disappear?
“You have to remind yourself that things here are just
different, they are not wrong, it’s just different”. A friend of mine told this
to me during an interview for my documentary about English teachers in Korea.
So often I would end these interviews by asking the person to offer any
advice to any one back home who might want to go to Korea to be an English
teacher but might be a little bit afraid.
Time after time people kept offering up the same advice.
They would say that it was up to the person to make the best of it and that
having an open mind really helped.
cheers,
rymr
ps: it is nice to see stars again. good to know they didn't go away.
Monday 2 September 2013
The Future of Journalism
“There may be more of them, not fewer, as the ability to
participate in journalism extends beyond the credentialed halls of traditional
media. But they may be paid far less, and for many it won’t be a full time job
at all. Journalism as a profession will share the stage with journalism as an
avocation. Meanwhile, others may use their skills to teach and organize
amateurs to do a better job covering their own communities, becoming more
editor/coach than writer.”
I do not agree. I think journalism will always exist as a
profession, and not merely as a hobby.
The quote is from “Free” by Chris Anderson and it appears in
both of the links above. One of the topics of Anderson’s book is the way in
which the business landscape is changing for journalism.
This change coincided with the online/digital revolution of
the twenty-first century. He mentions
sites like YouTube that offer unlimited content for free.
Change has been felt in the newsrooms in Canada. Last year
the Winnipeg Free Press had major lay-offs. The Globe and Mail recently offered
its employees a buyout option.
Despite all of this, I still decided to become a journalism
major. I spoke with a few former journalism majors over the summer as they had
found careers teaching English in Korea. They were very pessimistic, but does
all of this doom and gloom paint a full and complete picture?
One of the sentiments often uttered by both of my journalism
instructors last year, was that “there was no such thing as a print journalist
anymore”.
They didn’t mean that print journalism was dead but that the
days of a person being a print journalist and only a print journalist were over.
In this modern era, governed by free content and counted web hits, it is
essential for the journalist to diversify their skills.
This factored into my decision to go to Korea over the
summer, in order to make a documentary about English teachers. If I want to
find a job in journalism I know I’m going to have to learn how to do more,
including shooting and editing video in the field.
And jobs there are. A quick search found the following link
where jobs for journalists could be found.
Tuesday 28 May 2013
HBC et all (part 2)
On my way back to the subway I bumped into another old friend from Anyang, Jeff Barg. Jeff had only recently returned to Korea from a trip back home to the U.S.A.
On the train I started talking to these two random foreigners. (you can talk to strangers here) I asked them where they lived and they both said Guri. Small world. I asked them if they knew Matt Peacock and my good friend from Moonblues, Mr. Cha. They did.
In 2008, a group of ex-pats living in Guri used to go to Moonblues every Wednesday for an open mic night. On the stage with the Beatles from Yellow Submarine painted on the back wall, there were all the instruments and sound equipment set up to put together a pretty good bar band. A few times I even got up and joined the band on bass.
Mr. Cha was nice enough to drive me to the airport when I left Korea in 2008. I had spent my last night at Moonblues where the band, and the whole bar, filled with friends, sent me off with a touching rendition of happy birthday.
I added one of the foreigners I met on the subway on Facebook and we made plans to hang out in Guri while I'm back. I really hope I get to go back to Moonblues so I can see my friend, Mr. Cha.
I got off the train at Samgakji station to transfer to line 4. Waiting for the subway I bumped into two more friends from Happidus in Anyang. Nic couldn't remember my name, but I was in no position to get upset with him for it. He was with Gabriel, a friend from California who used to live in Anyang, but is now in Bundang.
The three of us got off at Beomgye station. When we got to Happidus it was about 11:30. The game would still not start for another four hours.
Terry and crew were already at Happidus. We sat and talked for a while until I decided to go home and drop off my 1300 dollar camera, tripod, and microphone that I had been carrying around with me all day in the hot and humid weather, amidst the hundreds of foreigners who had gathered in HBC.
On the way back to my current residence I bumped into another friend, Hannas. Unlike most of my friends here, Hannas is not an English teacher. He used to run his own import/export business. Hannas is from Finland and to thank his country for giving the world Teemu Selanne, I had given him my Winnipeg Jets' hat before I left Korea in 2012.
After returning to Happidus, the crew decided to go out for some Dak Galbi, a very tasty Korean dish you can't get back in Winnipeg. (For more information on Dak Galbi check back here later this week.)
We finished our late dinner around 2:30 am. With about an hour before the game started we decided to stop in at the local CV convenience store to have a beer outside on the sidewalk. In Korea you are allowed to drink a beer walking down the street. In HBC there were probably hundreds of foreigners doing exactly that. Another good thing about Korea is that they sell beer everywhere and a person is allowed to buy them one at a time.
As I nursed my beer sitting at a table outside the store, my good friend Finbar Brady was walking down the sidewalk. He was with a friend and they were both dressed up in some pretty suave looking suits. I've never seen him look so classy.
Finbar is a big Liverpool FC fan and he had a lot to say about their decline, as well as praise the tactical proficiency of former manager Rafa Benitez, to Terry, who mentioned his favourite team, Arsenal, every chance he got.
After I finished my beer and before we went upstairs, I spotted a random Korean on the street, wearing a Bayern Munich jersey. I gave him the thumbs up, and shouted out, "Go Bayern Munich!". He gave me the thumbs up right back.
I then shouted out "Bastian Schweinsteiger", and he smiled and turned around to reveal that he was wearing a Schweinsteiger jersey. Of course I had to get a picture with him so Terry took a few snaps with his camera. The Korean gave Terry his camera phone to take some pictures. We shook hands and he went off with his friends to presumably watch the game.
There were about fifteen of us at Happidus when the game kicked off at 3:45, roughly sixteen hours after I had left the apartment I was staying in.
It was a very exciting game. When Robben scored in the 89th minute I let out a huge cheer. I cheered so much that my voice went hoarse, and would remain so all day the next day.
When it comes to sports I just get carried away. My happiest moment was watching Bastian Schweinsteiger hoist the trophy over his head. It was well deserved.
Congratulations to Bayern Munich and Bastian Schweinsteiger!!!
It had been a night full of redemption.
When I got back to the apartment after six in the morning on Sunday, it was already bright outside. I had the place to myself as Janice and Tom had opted to stay out all night in Seoul.
What a day it had been.
cheers
rymr
On the train I started talking to these two random foreigners. (you can talk to strangers here) I asked them where they lived and they both said Guri. Small world. I asked them if they knew Matt Peacock and my good friend from Moonblues, Mr. Cha. They did.
In 2008, a group of ex-pats living in Guri used to go to Moonblues every Wednesday for an open mic night. On the stage with the Beatles from Yellow Submarine painted on the back wall, there were all the instruments and sound equipment set up to put together a pretty good bar band. A few times I even got up and joined the band on bass.
Mr. Cha was nice enough to drive me to the airport when I left Korea in 2008. I had spent my last night at Moonblues where the band, and the whole bar, filled with friends, sent me off with a touching rendition of happy birthday.
I added one of the foreigners I met on the subway on Facebook and we made plans to hang out in Guri while I'm back. I really hope I get to go back to Moonblues so I can see my friend, Mr. Cha.
I got off the train at Samgakji station to transfer to line 4. Waiting for the subway I bumped into two more friends from Happidus in Anyang. Nic couldn't remember my name, but I was in no position to get upset with him for it. He was with Gabriel, a friend from California who used to live in Anyang, but is now in Bundang.
The three of us got off at Beomgye station. When we got to Happidus it was about 11:30. The game would still not start for another four hours.
Terry and crew were already at Happidus. We sat and talked for a while until I decided to go home and drop off my 1300 dollar camera, tripod, and microphone that I had been carrying around with me all day in the hot and humid weather, amidst the hundreds of foreigners who had gathered in HBC.
On the way back to my current residence I bumped into another friend, Hannas. Unlike most of my friends here, Hannas is not an English teacher. He used to run his own import/export business. Hannas is from Finland and to thank his country for giving the world Teemu Selanne, I had given him my Winnipeg Jets' hat before I left Korea in 2012.
After returning to Happidus, the crew decided to go out for some Dak Galbi, a very tasty Korean dish you can't get back in Winnipeg. (For more information on Dak Galbi check back here later this week.)
We finished our late dinner around 2:30 am. With about an hour before the game started we decided to stop in at the local CV convenience store to have a beer outside on the sidewalk. In Korea you are allowed to drink a beer walking down the street. In HBC there were probably hundreds of foreigners doing exactly that. Another good thing about Korea is that they sell beer everywhere and a person is allowed to buy them one at a time.
As I nursed my beer sitting at a table outside the store, my good friend Finbar Brady was walking down the sidewalk. He was with a friend and they were both dressed up in some pretty suave looking suits. I've never seen him look so classy.
Finbar is a big Liverpool FC fan and he had a lot to say about their decline, as well as praise the tactical proficiency of former manager Rafa Benitez, to Terry, who mentioned his favourite team, Arsenal, every chance he got.
After I finished my beer and before we went upstairs, I spotted a random Korean on the street, wearing a Bayern Munich jersey. I gave him the thumbs up, and shouted out, "Go Bayern Munich!". He gave me the thumbs up right back.
I then shouted out "Bastian Schweinsteiger", and he smiled and turned around to reveal that he was wearing a Schweinsteiger jersey. Of course I had to get a picture with him so Terry took a few snaps with his camera. The Korean gave Terry his camera phone to take some pictures. We shook hands and he went off with his friends to presumably watch the game.
There were about fifteen of us at Happidus when the game kicked off at 3:45, roughly sixteen hours after I had left the apartment I was staying in.
It was a very exciting game. When Robben scored in the 89th minute I let out a huge cheer. I cheered so much that my voice went hoarse, and would remain so all day the next day.
When it comes to sports I just get carried away. My happiest moment was watching Bastian Schweinsteiger hoist the trophy over his head. It was well deserved.
Congratulations to Bayern Munich and Bastian Schweinsteiger!!!
It had been a night full of redemption.
When I got back to the apartment after six in the morning on Sunday, it was already bright outside. I had the place to myself as Janice and Tom had opted to stay out all night in Seoul.
What a day it had been.
cheers
rymr
Sunday 26 May 2013
HBC Fest, Karma, Redemption, and the Big Game (part 1)
The big game didn't start until 3:45 am in Korea. There was no way I was going to miss it. After losing to Chelsea in the Champions' League Final the year before, Bayern Munich, and my favourite player, Bastian Schweinsteiger, were looking for redemption. Schweinsteiger had missed the penalty that had given the title to Chelsea.
My day started out around 11:30, sixteen hours before the game would start. I was off to Gwacheon to film the Anyang Crackers, a local baseball team made up of expats from the area.
My friend Iain had invited me out to film some of the action. I knew a few of the players on the team which included Alex Larsson, Gavin Stephenson and Josh Watson. Josh had just recently got married to his Korean girlfriend.
After the baseball I was off to Haebongchong to film scenes from a rehearsal of the Wizard of OZ being put on by Camarata Music Company, a musical theatre company in Seoul, run by Ryan Goessl.
As I sat outside the rehearsal, checking my e-mails on the street using my ipod touch and the free Korean wifi, I bumped into Patrick Foley, whom I had met a few years back while performing Shakespeare. As was his custom in the past, Patrick was not wearing any shoes.
At around 5 pm I stopped into the McDonalds in Iteawon to have lunch. I got the Bulgogi burger set, largie. With the free wifi disappearing I went to a Pc bong, or Internet cafe to check my e-mails and make plans to see an old friend.
At 5:30 I met up with Julie Bol and as we sat and got caught up we bumped into Chris Hamilton, a friend I had met while playing in the CBHK.
The street was beginning to get filled with other foreigners. They were there to check out the HBC street festival, an annual event that attacks hundreds, if not thousand of waegooks from all over the greater Seoul area.
The police can't shut down the street because many of the local residents would not be able to go home as this road is the only way in or out for many of them.
A few hours later they had set up a police tape line to keep the pedestrians from disturbing the traffic. At times it almost seems like they are more worried about protecting the cars than they are the pedestrians.
As part of the festival many of the local bars had several bands and musicians perform. In 2010 I had performed some Shakespeare at the Orange Tree.
Across the street I spotted another friend, Matt, whom I had met the same night as Janice at Happidus in Anyang a few years back. I called him Dave, probably because he looks like my friend Dave from Anyang. Matt was in no hurry to correct me and I didn't discover his true identity until we met up with Tom and Janice, and she started using his real name. (the two had worked together)
I bumped into some of the hockey people, including Theopolis, who once shaved the superman logo into his over abundant supply of chest hair. We talked about the Winnipeg Jets and I told them how much fun it was to go to a game.
This dark haired woman then started waving at me. I felt bad because I had no idea who she was. She came up to me and my embarrassment grew as she called me by my name. I had known her five years ago when we both lived in Guri. Sadly I couldn't remember her name until a few hours later. Sorry Ginger, with the hair you just looked so different.
Captain James Williams of the U.S. army was there. James had directed Bent, the short film I had made while I was in Korea in 2011. If you want to see it go on Vimeo and search for 'James Williams Bent'. One small warning as the film is not safe for work.
James is one of the classiest people I've ever met. When we did the movie he had a huge BBQ at his place and in a few weeks he will be letting me stay at his apartment for 2 weeks. He also agreed to do an interview with me and I am very excited to get on base.
Very soon, James will be filming a movie about HBC. He has promised me a small cameo.
The highlight was running into Lindsey Higgins and her fiance Mich. I had always gotten along well with him and we had a really nice chat about hockey.
During the conversation Lindsey came over and gave me a hug. It was great to see her. Lindsey runs the Seoul Shakespeare Company and because of my poor anger management, things had not ended between us on the best of terms.
It felt like a kind of redemption. All the best to you Lindsey and Mich. Congratulations!!!
cheers
rymr
My day started out around 11:30, sixteen hours before the game would start. I was off to Gwacheon to film the Anyang Crackers, a local baseball team made up of expats from the area.
My friend Iain had invited me out to film some of the action. I knew a few of the players on the team which included Alex Larsson, Gavin Stephenson and Josh Watson. Josh had just recently got married to his Korean girlfriend.
After the baseball I was off to Haebongchong to film scenes from a rehearsal of the Wizard of OZ being put on by Camarata Music Company, a musical theatre company in Seoul, run by Ryan Goessl.
As I sat outside the rehearsal, checking my e-mails on the street using my ipod touch and the free Korean wifi, I bumped into Patrick Foley, whom I had met a few years back while performing Shakespeare. As was his custom in the past, Patrick was not wearing any shoes.
At around 5 pm I stopped into the McDonalds in Iteawon to have lunch. I got the Bulgogi burger set, largie. With the free wifi disappearing I went to a Pc bong, or Internet cafe to check my e-mails and make plans to see an old friend.
At 5:30 I met up with Julie Bol and as we sat and got caught up we bumped into Chris Hamilton, a friend I had met while playing in the CBHK.
The street was beginning to get filled with other foreigners. They were there to check out the HBC street festival, an annual event that attacks hundreds, if not thousand of waegooks from all over the greater Seoul area.
The police can't shut down the street because many of the local residents would not be able to go home as this road is the only way in or out for many of them.
A few hours later they had set up a police tape line to keep the pedestrians from disturbing the traffic. At times it almost seems like they are more worried about protecting the cars than they are the pedestrians.
As part of the festival many of the local bars had several bands and musicians perform. In 2010 I had performed some Shakespeare at the Orange Tree.
Across the street I spotted another friend, Matt, whom I had met the same night as Janice at Happidus in Anyang a few years back. I called him Dave, probably because he looks like my friend Dave from Anyang. Matt was in no hurry to correct me and I didn't discover his true identity until we met up with Tom and Janice, and she started using his real name. (the two had worked together)
I bumped into some of the hockey people, including Theopolis, who once shaved the superman logo into his over abundant supply of chest hair. We talked about the Winnipeg Jets and I told them how much fun it was to go to a game.
This dark haired woman then started waving at me. I felt bad because I had no idea who she was. She came up to me and my embarrassment grew as she called me by my name. I had known her five years ago when we both lived in Guri. Sadly I couldn't remember her name until a few hours later. Sorry Ginger, with the hair you just looked so different.
Captain James Williams of the U.S. army was there. James had directed Bent, the short film I had made while I was in Korea in 2011. If you want to see it go on Vimeo and search for 'James Williams Bent'. One small warning as the film is not safe for work.
James is one of the classiest people I've ever met. When we did the movie he had a huge BBQ at his place and in a few weeks he will be letting me stay at his apartment for 2 weeks. He also agreed to do an interview with me and I am very excited to get on base.
Very soon, James will be filming a movie about HBC. He has promised me a small cameo.
The highlight was running into Lindsey Higgins and her fiance Mich. I had always gotten along well with him and we had a really nice chat about hockey.
During the conversation Lindsey came over and gave me a hug. It was great to see her. Lindsey runs the Seoul Shakespeare Company and because of my poor anger management, things had not ended between us on the best of terms.
It felt like a kind of redemption. All the best to you Lindsey and Mich. Congratulations!!!
cheers
rymr
Tuesday 21 May 2013
The CBHK
With 40 seconds left in the final of the CBHK spring tournament being played at the Olympic park in Jamsil, on Saturday, May 18th, 2013, team Leafs scored a goal to pull within one. Sitting on the bench, helpless to do anything about the outcome, I could hardly watch as the final seconds ticked down. With some hard work and ball possession by Chris and Gibby, the victory was secured. Team Western Canada had won the game and the tournament, despite not winning a single game in the round robin.
Team captain and leader Rob Gibson had called our strategy the 'rope a dope'. We were going to get the other teams to let their guard down by not performing too well during the round robin portion of the event. With only 4 teams in the tournament, this was a good strategy, because we could not be elminiated until the playoffs. The team had been saving their best game for last.
It was the first time I ever won anything in the CBHK. I had played in four seasons during my time in Korea and never even played in the final of a competition.
After I booked my flight a few months ago, one of the first things I did was get in touch with league members to find out how much I was going to be able to participate. I was hoping at the very least to play in a few games of pick up. In my wildest dreams, I was hoping that I would somehow make it onto a team for a tournament, to get into some competitive action.
It was either luck, or poor planning on someone's part that made things work out for me. It was May long weekend in Korea because of Buddha's birthday. Many of the foreign teachers in the Seoul area were headed out of town to places like Busan, which is renowned for its beaches. I can only imagine how bad the traffic heading out of town must have been.
Among my many teammates was an old friend of mine, Terry Kearnes. I like to bug Terry and call him old man, even though he is younger than I am. It was a pleasent surprise to see good ol' Kearnsey when I arrived at the rink. He was with his wife, who is pregnant and expecting their first child. (congrats and all the best Kearnsey!!!)
Kearnsey had been my teammate on three different teams in the CBHK. Our captain, the french bastard, Shawn Amirault, was the only captian brave enough to draft me. Unfortunately for Shawn, he is known as the Dan Marino of the CBHK, because he racked up a lot of points, but never won the big game.
The best chance we had was in my second season. We were up one game to zero and tied at two with about a minute left in the second game, when Shawn decided to leave Gordo unmarked so he could score the game's winning goal. We ended up losing in three. (Shawn won the best defensive forward trophy at the banquet that night - I always felt he should have given it back - sorry Shawn, you know I still love you)
Kearnsey and I couldn't help but think of our old captain as we both finally got to taste sweet sweet victory. We both joked that Shawn must have been the piston that wasn't firing to make that engine run.
It had been a long hard day. I was so sore that I didn't do anything for the next two days. My body needed the time to recover.
I got a pretty sweet gash on my leg and a very nice sized bruise on my stomach from when I got down to block a shot in the semi-final in order to preserve a one to nothing victory over the heavily favoured and star studded Team USA.
It felt extra sweet going through the hand shake line. As I shook hands with Gordo, I couldn't help but blurt out how proud I was to have finally beaten him. His team had knocked my team out of the CBHK playoffs twice, and in the only other tournament I had been in, it had been his team who had knocked out my team.
Revenge felt sweet. Take that Gordo!!! (i joke i joke)
cheers
rymr
ps. CBHK stands for Canadian Ball Hockey in Korea. For more information check out their website:
http://www.cbhk.org/
Team captain and leader Rob Gibson had called our strategy the 'rope a dope'. We were going to get the other teams to let their guard down by not performing too well during the round robin portion of the event. With only 4 teams in the tournament, this was a good strategy, because we could not be elminiated until the playoffs. The team had been saving their best game for last.
It was the first time I ever won anything in the CBHK. I had played in four seasons during my time in Korea and never even played in the final of a competition.
After I booked my flight a few months ago, one of the first things I did was get in touch with league members to find out how much I was going to be able to participate. I was hoping at the very least to play in a few games of pick up. In my wildest dreams, I was hoping that I would somehow make it onto a team for a tournament, to get into some competitive action.
It was either luck, or poor planning on someone's part that made things work out for me. It was May long weekend in Korea because of Buddha's birthday. Many of the foreign teachers in the Seoul area were headed out of town to places like Busan, which is renowned for its beaches. I can only imagine how bad the traffic heading out of town must have been.
Among my many teammates was an old friend of mine, Terry Kearnes. I like to bug Terry and call him old man, even though he is younger than I am. It was a pleasent surprise to see good ol' Kearnsey when I arrived at the rink. He was with his wife, who is pregnant and expecting their first child. (congrats and all the best Kearnsey!!!)
Kearnsey had been my teammate on three different teams in the CBHK. Our captain, the french bastard, Shawn Amirault, was the only captian brave enough to draft me. Unfortunately for Shawn, he is known as the Dan Marino of the CBHK, because he racked up a lot of points, but never won the big game.
The best chance we had was in my second season. We were up one game to zero and tied at two with about a minute left in the second game, when Shawn decided to leave Gordo unmarked so he could score the game's winning goal. We ended up losing in three. (Shawn won the best defensive forward trophy at the banquet that night - I always felt he should have given it back - sorry Shawn, you know I still love you)
Kearnsey and I couldn't help but think of our old captain as we both finally got to taste sweet sweet victory. We both joked that Shawn must have been the piston that wasn't firing to make that engine run.
It had been a long hard day. I was so sore that I didn't do anything for the next two days. My body needed the time to recover.
I got a pretty sweet gash on my leg and a very nice sized bruise on my stomach from when I got down to block a shot in the semi-final in order to preserve a one to nothing victory over the heavily favoured and star studded Team USA.
It felt extra sweet going through the hand shake line. As I shook hands with Gordo, I couldn't help but blurt out how proud I was to have finally beaten him. His team had knocked my team out of the CBHK playoffs twice, and in the only other tournament I had been in, it had been his team who had knocked out my team.
Revenge felt sweet. Take that Gordo!!! (i joke i joke)
cheers
rymr
ps. CBHK stands for Canadian Ball Hockey in Korea. For more information check out their website:
http://www.cbhk.org/
Sunday 19 May 2013
A Legacy Of Hate and Anger (Part 2)
My second tour of duty in Korea was a lot
different. I was being blackmailed at my
former job and they wanted me to work for them for free. I didn’t lose my temper once in this
situation and I was so proud of it.
The first time I lost my temper in Korea
was after things ended very abruptly between me and Amanda.
It happened at Trivia night. I showed up and she was talking the ear off
of some other guy. They talked the whole
night, ignoring the rest of our trivia team. (we won) I was so angry at her that night I wanted to pour a drink on her. My friend
Julie stopped me and got Amanda out of the bar before I did anything stupid. Amanda rewarded her for this by ignoring
her. It became an unfriendly place to
work and all of the fun we used to have as a group was over, all because I once
again turned into an angry asshole, and tore the friendship apart.
During the next two years, these incidents
occurred more and more as my anger and my drinking got out of control. I took to writing the most incredibly stupid
Facebook posts, thinking, in a drunken state, that I was being funny, when
really I was just being rude and insulting.
When one friend was congratulating another
friend on the birth of their first child, I was going on calling him a fucking
asshole, and then acting surprised when people took offense to this.
I took to sending similar text messages to
friends all over the place. One time I
got really drunk on tequila and sent my friend Melissa an incredibly angry
e-mail for no reason at all.
On my last night in Bundang I started out
by almost picking a drunken fight with these guys at Pub 210 over a stupid pool
game. I followed this up by going to the
Dublin, where I said something incredibly insulting and offensive to my friend
Taylor McCarey’s girlfriend. Again, at
the time I thought I was being funny, but I was just so drunk that it came out
the completely wrong way, and it was very much a big time insult to her.
Somehow sorry doesn’t seem like a word that
has any meaning.
I mean so what that I’m sorry. I should be.
At every step along the way, people have
continued to give me the benefit of the doubt and chance after chance after
chance, only to have me shit all over it.
I guess I should count myself lucky that I
have a friends like Tom and Janice who are willing to put up with me enough
that they are willing to let me stay with them for three months for free.
I also feel very lucky that I still know so
many people in Korea who are very much looking forward to seeing me and can’t
wait until I get back.
I did a lot of good things in Korea, but
like with everything else, I have undone my positive efforts by losing control
of my temper.
Since I left Korea I have not lost my
temper once. I’ve stopped sending people
insulting messages and I haven’t written a dumb Facebook status in over a year.
From time to time I will still say
something stupid, but at least when I do I mean well.
I’ve managed to keep my Pandora’s box of
anger shut. I can’t control or do
anything about what I did in the past.
All I can try to do is learn from it, own it, and then move on.
I guess I am still, despite all the
evidence to the contrary, optimistic that I can learn how to deal with the
anger I feel and in a productive way.
Hopefully, on a Friday or Saturday night in
Korea this summer, I will be able to regain a little bit of the magic that made
me the person everyone wanted to talk to at that bar, and not the angry person,
so many people remember me to be.
Wednesday 15 May 2013
My First Trip to Gwangju
In the city of Winnipeg, Manitoba, people can get what is called 'perimeter itus': They tend to ignore everyone and everything that live outside the city limits.
The same thing can happen in Korea to the people who live in Seoul and the surrounding area known as Gyeonggi-do.
I used to be like that.
I lived in the Seoul area for 3 years. In all that time I barely left the area to explore.
For the first time ever last weekend I went to Gwangju to take part in a scavenger hunt. It was a very fun and exhausting day.
My bus left Anyang station at 930 am on Saturday. Despite five traffic lanes and a blue lined bus lane, traffic was backed up and it felt like grid lock. It was supposed to only take three hours and forty minutes to get there but because of the traffic it took nearly five.
The scavenger hunt began at three and I was left scrounging to find a taxi which would take me to the YMCA shin-ay, a popular meeting point for foreigners in the area. The HQ for the event was a short distance away at a foreigner run bar called Mike and Dave's Speakeasy.
The team I was paired up with started running from the get go. They were ultra-competitive and nothing was going to stop them from trying to win.
The scavenger hunt was set up as an event through the Teach ESL Korea Facebook page. The group likes to organize these type of events every so often as a way to help foreign teachers connect with each other.
Amanda Sicard and a few of her friends worked very hard to put it together. The most fun part for them was thinking up all of the clever ideas for the activities the teams would have to complete in order to get points to win a prize.
They also went out into the community to get local businesses to sponsor the event. Some of them even donated prizes to the cause with Teach ESL Korea's Dan Henrickson throwing in a hundred thousand won to the winners.
After an hour I was really starting to feel it. I had only been in the country for a few days and was still getting over my jet lag. I missed breakfast and because of the delay in transit I didn't have time to eat lunch.
They kept running like they were competing in the Olympics and this had been their lifelong dream to win this particular scavenger hunt.
I run twelve miles a week and wasn't going to let these four young whipper snappers run me into the ground. I still have my pride.
Through the second hour I was able to keep up as they completed several of the tasks which included:
Finding someone wearing Harry Potter glasses.
A Korean couple wearing the same outfit.
Taking a shot at a bar called Tequillaz.
Finding a T-shirt with bad Konglish on it, etc, etc.
With four players on each team, three of them had to be in the picture while the other one took it.
With about a half an hour left in the event, I finally hit the wall and could go no further. It was on a long steep staircase that went up this hill. I tried to climb up to the top, but finally my legs gave out.
I sat down, shook my head and started to feel a little bit humble. My team had got the better of me and I was starting to feel my age.
As the team I was supposed to be following around finished the final few tasks I sat in a Burger King eating a Whopper jr set - largie.
All I could think about was how I wanted to go back to sleep. (I wasn't able to get any sleep the night before or on the bus during the ride down.)
I still had to stick around to see how the team had done and if all of my suffering, trying to keep up with them had been worth the while.
Second place. Not as good as first, but still pretty darn decent considering how many teams there were in the competition. ( There were sixteen or seventeen teams - I'm not sure exactly how many)
Good thing I hadn't been following around the first place team as they probably would have killed me.
Later that night, as I lay in bed alone in my room at this Korean 'Love Motel", all of the muscles in my legs and arms started to cramp up. I was worried that I wasn't going to be able to walk the next day.
It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be and I was strong enough to walk around to take in some of the sights Gwangju had to offer. It really is a beautiful city.
Too bad I waited so long to find out.
Neil Reimer
The same thing can happen in Korea to the people who live in Seoul and the surrounding area known as Gyeonggi-do.
I used to be like that.
I lived in the Seoul area for 3 years. In all that time I barely left the area to explore.
For the first time ever last weekend I went to Gwangju to take part in a scavenger hunt. It was a very fun and exhausting day.
My bus left Anyang station at 930 am on Saturday. Despite five traffic lanes and a blue lined bus lane, traffic was backed up and it felt like grid lock. It was supposed to only take three hours and forty minutes to get there but because of the traffic it took nearly five.
The scavenger hunt began at three and I was left scrounging to find a taxi which would take me to the YMCA shin-ay, a popular meeting point for foreigners in the area. The HQ for the event was a short distance away at a foreigner run bar called Mike and Dave's Speakeasy.
The team I was paired up with started running from the get go. They were ultra-competitive and nothing was going to stop them from trying to win.
The scavenger hunt was set up as an event through the Teach ESL Korea Facebook page. The group likes to organize these type of events every so often as a way to help foreign teachers connect with each other.
Amanda Sicard and a few of her friends worked very hard to put it together. The most fun part for them was thinking up all of the clever ideas for the activities the teams would have to complete in order to get points to win a prize.
They also went out into the community to get local businesses to sponsor the event. Some of them even donated prizes to the cause with Teach ESL Korea's Dan Henrickson throwing in a hundred thousand won to the winners.
After an hour I was really starting to feel it. I had only been in the country for a few days and was still getting over my jet lag. I missed breakfast and because of the delay in transit I didn't have time to eat lunch.
They kept running like they were competing in the Olympics and this had been their lifelong dream to win this particular scavenger hunt.
I run twelve miles a week and wasn't going to let these four young whipper snappers run me into the ground. I still have my pride.
Through the second hour I was able to keep up as they completed several of the tasks which included:
Finding someone wearing Harry Potter glasses.
A Korean couple wearing the same outfit.
Taking a shot at a bar called Tequillaz.
Finding a T-shirt with bad Konglish on it, etc, etc.
With four players on each team, three of them had to be in the picture while the other one took it.
With about a half an hour left in the event, I finally hit the wall and could go no further. It was on a long steep staircase that went up this hill. I tried to climb up to the top, but finally my legs gave out.
I sat down, shook my head and started to feel a little bit humble. My team had got the better of me and I was starting to feel my age.
As the team I was supposed to be following around finished the final few tasks I sat in a Burger King eating a Whopper jr set - largie.
All I could think about was how I wanted to go back to sleep. (I wasn't able to get any sleep the night before or on the bus during the ride down.)
I still had to stick around to see how the team had done and if all of my suffering, trying to keep up with them had been worth the while.
Second place. Not as good as first, but still pretty darn decent considering how many teams there were in the competition. ( There were sixteen or seventeen teams - I'm not sure exactly how many)
Good thing I hadn't been following around the first place team as they probably would have killed me.
Later that night, as I lay in bed alone in my room at this Korean 'Love Motel", all of the muscles in my legs and arms started to cramp up. I was worried that I wasn't going to be able to walk the next day.
It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be and I was strong enough to walk around to take in some of the sights Gwangju had to offer. It really is a beautiful city.
Too bad I waited so long to find out.
Neil Reimer
Thursday 9 May 2013
Very Spicy Samgyapsol (part 2)
I couldn't find any good samgyapsol in Canada. The one time I had it the strips were very thin and not very tasty. I had to use wooden chop sticks and I wasn't able to cook my own food at my table.
It's not like that here. The Korean food in Anyang is a lot better than what you'll get in Winnipeg.
I was a little disoriented walking around my home away from home for the first time last night. It had been a very long day.
My day started in Winnipeg. 20 hours later I was in the ROK.
Travel days are never easy, especially when you have to sit on the same plane for almost 12 hours. That's still not the longest flight I've ever been on. That occurred in 2007 when I took a 16 hour direct flight from Chicago to Seoul.
I took the airport bus from Incheon to Beomgye station. I was a little thrown off because the location of the bus stop was different. There was also a very unfamiliar landmark in the shape of a giant new Lotte mart that was not here when I left. It was still under construction.
I had a phone number for reaching my friend Tom who is letting me stay at his place with my other good friend Janice. The only problem was that I couldn't find a payphone anywhere. Do payphones still exist? If they don't I might be in trouble.
We dropped my luggage off at his apartment and headed back out. We met Janice and went looking for my favourite Korean BBQ place.
I got a little bit lost. We walked right past the restaurant but I didn't recognise it. It had changed a little bit.
The food was every bit as good as I remembered. The samgyapsol was thick and juicy. If you haven't had it before, it's kind of like bacon, but much better (I don't like bacon).
We also had a little bit of Galbi, which is beef if you haven't had it before.
A Korean ajuma took the tongs from me and used a pair of scissors to cut the meat up into tiny little strips. Our table was covered in side dishes. There were a few types of kimchi and some soup.
Everything tasted really great. My last meal in Korea had been at this restaurant 15 months ago. I couldn't think of a better place to have my first meal.
If you are ever in Anyang check this restaurant out. Very Spicy Samgyapsol has the best samgyapsol in the world.
bon appetite,
rymr
It's not like that here. The Korean food in Anyang is a lot better than what you'll get in Winnipeg.
I was a little disoriented walking around my home away from home for the first time last night. It had been a very long day.
My day started in Winnipeg. 20 hours later I was in the ROK.
Travel days are never easy, especially when you have to sit on the same plane for almost 12 hours. That's still not the longest flight I've ever been on. That occurred in 2007 when I took a 16 hour direct flight from Chicago to Seoul.
I took the airport bus from Incheon to Beomgye station. I was a little thrown off because the location of the bus stop was different. There was also a very unfamiliar landmark in the shape of a giant new Lotte mart that was not here when I left. It was still under construction.
I had a phone number for reaching my friend Tom who is letting me stay at his place with my other good friend Janice. The only problem was that I couldn't find a payphone anywhere. Do payphones still exist? If they don't I might be in trouble.
We dropped my luggage off at his apartment and headed back out. We met Janice and went looking for my favourite Korean BBQ place.
I got a little bit lost. We walked right past the restaurant but I didn't recognise it. It had changed a little bit.
The food was every bit as good as I remembered. The samgyapsol was thick and juicy. If you haven't had it before, it's kind of like bacon, but much better (I don't like bacon).
We also had a little bit of Galbi, which is beef if you haven't had it before.
A Korean ajuma took the tongs from me and used a pair of scissors to cut the meat up into tiny little strips. Our table was covered in side dishes. There were a few types of kimchi and some soup.
Everything tasted really great. My last meal in Korea had been at this restaurant 15 months ago. I couldn't think of a better place to have my first meal.
If you are ever in Anyang check this restaurant out. Very Spicy Samgyapsol has the best samgyapsol in the world.
bon appetite,
rymr
Friday 26 April 2013
It was twenty years ago today...
Okay, well it wasn't exactly 20 years ago today, but it was twenty years ago in May of 1993 when I first saw Paul McCartney in concert.
I was only 16 then and still a student at Westwood Collegiate, which was a jock school at the time, and not the performing arts school it would become, when I saw a member of my favourite music group of all time perform.
The Beatles were the first music group I ever got into. I grew up in the 80s. The popular music was pure crap and I hated it. I really can't understand all these people who look back to the music of this decade and think of it as 'classic'. Most of it is classic crap as far as I'm concerned. I didn't like it then, and I don't like it even more now.
The only good music to come out of the 80s was rap and hip hop. Thank you KRS-One and BDP for that.
It was new year's eve the year I was in grade 6. I was at home with my brother playing cards. The movie "A Hard Day's Night" came on and I've been hooked on their music ever since.
I've always wanted to meet Mic Jagger just so I can get him to admit that the Rolling Stones are so incredibly inferior to the Beatles in almost every respect.
I'll take Lennon/McCartney over Jagger and Richards any day.
Name one good Rolling Stones' album? You can't can you. The Stones were a singles band and lacked the musical intelligence to produce an album on par with a Sgt. Pepper's, a White Album, or an Abbey Road.
One Beatle can tour and it is a big deal. I think if Keith Richards or Mic Jagger were to come to Winnipeg on their own, it wouldn't be that big of a deal.
One Beatle is more powerful than an entire Rolling Stones put together.
It's going to be the concert of the year and I'm really looking forward to it.
cheers,
rymr
I was only 16 then and still a student at Westwood Collegiate, which was a jock school at the time, and not the performing arts school it would become, when I saw a member of my favourite music group of all time perform.
The Beatles were the first music group I ever got into. I grew up in the 80s. The popular music was pure crap and I hated it. I really can't understand all these people who look back to the music of this decade and think of it as 'classic'. Most of it is classic crap as far as I'm concerned. I didn't like it then, and I don't like it even more now.
The only good music to come out of the 80s was rap and hip hop. Thank you KRS-One and BDP for that.
It was new year's eve the year I was in grade 6. I was at home with my brother playing cards. The movie "A Hard Day's Night" came on and I've been hooked on their music ever since.
I've always wanted to meet Mic Jagger just so I can get him to admit that the Rolling Stones are so incredibly inferior to the Beatles in almost every respect.
I'll take Lennon/McCartney over Jagger and Richards any day.
Name one good Rolling Stones' album? You can't can you. The Stones were a singles band and lacked the musical intelligence to produce an album on par with a Sgt. Pepper's, a White Album, or an Abbey Road.
One Beatle can tour and it is a big deal. I think if Keith Richards or Mic Jagger were to come to Winnipeg on their own, it wouldn't be that big of a deal.
One Beatle is more powerful than an entire Rolling Stones put together.
It's going to be the concert of the year and I'm really looking forward to it.
cheers,
rymr
Wednesday 17 April 2013
What’s in a name: A Tribute to John Candy and S.C.T.V.
My favourite TV show growing up in the 1980s was an
independently produced, syndicated Canadian show called S.C.T.V. The show gave rise to many famous actors, but
none were more talented than the late great, John Candy.
No other actor could play a slime ball better than Candy,
and my all-time favourite character of his was Johnny La Rue.
La Rue was not the kind of person you would want to
meet. To put it bluntly, the character
was sexist, egotistical, mean spirited, greedy, a bully, etc,etc,etc. Because he was played by the charming John Candy, I could not
stop laughing at all of his faults as a human being, which he so bravely bared
to the rest of the world.
Candy was one of the most likeable actors I’ve ever seen
perform, and this is why he could play such a horrible character, like Johnny
La Rue, and still make him human. I always
wanted to root for him, even if I knew he didn’t want to do anything good.
One of my favourite bits that he did was called, Dining Avec
La Rue. Most of the time it was called
Dining with La Rue, but in one episode La Rue went to a French restaurant and
they changed the name.
Of course he doesn’t have a reservation so he tries to bribe his way in. The waiter makes a big scene, but La Rue still gets his table. He orders the cheapest bottle of wine and meal they have. He ends up with a bottle of Thunderbird, and a cheeseburger and french fries.
Two women are sitting next to him and so of course he has to
act a little bit sexist towards them.
After he asks them for a manage-a-trio, they throw bread at him.
He ends up not having enough money for the bill and so the
waiter and another guy end up beating him.
It was classic John Candy.
cheers,
rymr
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