Our house has one bathroom and it is very nice, but let’s face it, it’s a bathroom, so there wasn’t too much we could or wanted to do to it besides putting something on the wall. Our inspiration came from my last apartment in Halifax, which was decorated solely by placing a huge pile of Archies on the toilet tank, topped with a solved Rubik’s cube. It was always a hit with our guests, so I wanted to take some classic elements of that into this project, which I have chosen to call “Archie Chic”.

Step One: Set your budget and go shopping!
We had a $10 budget and hit the road to Shoppers Drug Mart. I’m definitely one to find my way around a budget, so we cashed in our Optimum points for a box of 10 frames (FREE!) and set out to The Comic Hunter for a fresh stack of Archies. Funnily enough, when we got to the cash, the woman working asked if they were for our bathroom. “Yes,” I proclaimed, “but way fancier than you’re imagining!”

Step Two: Carefully select your images based on what will bring you the most laughs the most often.
We got home and ripped through the pages, in search of the best one pagers (referred to as “Gag Bags” in Riverdale.) We narrowed down our top 10 story lines and placed them in their frames.

Step Three: Prepare your templates.
This trick was taught to me by @mmilway. You take scrap paper, old magazines, flyers, whatever you can find, and cut the pages the same size as the frames you’re going to hang. You then mark a spot on the back of the page where the nail would go. Once you’ve finished cutting the templates for each of your frames, grab some scotch tape and arrange them as many times as you need around the wall until you find your desired placement.

Step Four: Hang your frames!
Hammer some nails into the marked spots and place your frames over their templates. BOOF! You are done. No mistakes. Rip out the papers from behind, sit back and enjoy the view!

Step Five: File your income taxes, clip some coupons and decant some wine because baby, you’ve just graduated to grownup!

But is this a good thing? One thing is for sure, commenting is addictive. From news sites to sport sites, opinion pieces and general interest, you are bound to find a steady stream of feedback being provided to posts on the web. Do the comments add value to the post? Sometimes. Many times they usually veer off into personal diatribes, getting heated, and negative. Fact is, people don’t always agree. Is a post the place to vent your frustration in a public way? We can’t be the only ones who have seen commenting derail into racial, political or personal attacks. Much like the days of high school where the mob mentality would draw everyone outside the school at 3 pm to watch two poor saps fight, we seem to have a natural instinct to be drawn into conflict.

So what does this type of reaction mean to businesses or even personal sites? Should we keep the content completely neutral to play it safe? Should we not present an opinion, or take a side in a debate? In this way, blogs have a clear advantage over more established journalistic sites.  Journalists are supposed to present unbiased accounts of events or happenings. They are supposed to fact check and confirm the validity of their sources, but with blogging, there are no clear-cut rules. Are we really getting a clear, unbiased opinion anywhere on the web or in print? Maybe that is one reason print has survived. The only option for readers is to write a letter to the editor, with no guarantee it will be selected for print. So are letters to the editor a true reflection of public opinion?

The internet has opened up the information gateway, and we start to realize that public opinion has always been censored to a certain degree. It has been groomed, massaged, and spun to reflect positively on the publication itself. It’s actually fun to check out most magazines or newspapers these days, because you will see they often times include at least one negative review or comment to create the illusion of fairness, and make the reader think they are being transparent.

This week our site was randomly selected to be Freshly Pressed on WordPress.com. This has generated thousands of hits on the site, and hundreds of comments. We have seen a range of comments from positive to downright negative. We have been told to take our blog off the web, that we have no idea what we are talking about, but to us, that’s what opinion is all about. It opens up dialogue and gives an outlet for people to debate. We allow all comments on our site, even though WordPress will automatically filter what they perceive as spam or abusive comments. They also seem to prevent multiple comments from users. We love hearing both sides, whether you agree with us or disagree, as long as it inspires a discussion.

As we start to get more of our daily information on the web, many websites CMS have options for controlling the commenting function. LinkedIn, WordPress, and more have tools to prevent users from self-publishing their feedback. Many sites review comments before they appear, and undoubtedly they are not just reviewing for spam or obscenities. So as the internet appears to be providing more openness and ability for each of us to have our voices heard, but is it really so?

Photo: © Dundanim | Dreamstime.com

Some books that are not self-published

I realize that the following opinion may be polarizing on a site populated by writers, but in the spirit of the name of the blog, I have something to say, and it’s about books and writers and typists. Maybe also about the sense of entitlement and the hubris of self-applying labels; you be the judge.

I recently had a conversation with a good friend about a mutual acquaintance who has self-published a book. This acquaintance is now happily calling herself an author to any and all who will listen. So, by book, I mean that it contains words printed on paper, there is a cover with an illustration, a blurb on the back detailing the basic plot, a short biography of the author, and even a tidy little ISBN number. There is no other direct descriptor for what our acquaintance has produced here: it is a book.

But is she an author?

There are a few things about this self-publishing gambit that leave a bad taste in my mouth. Some self-published people believe that they alone should control their writing, that no one could possibly understand their style or intent as a writer, and therefore they will bypass the “traditional publishers” in the interest of total control. Before even trying to submit their work to a publisher, they make the decision to self-publish, because clearly, they know best. What if the publisher just plain isn’t interested? Why bother the poor publishers with queries? Just jump online and find a printer!

I find this attitude maddeningly cavalier and lacking in sense. If you decide to bypass the potential criticism and rejection that would come from “traditional publishers” by self-publishing, you seem also to be tacitly admitting that you don’t think that any “traditional publishers” would be interested. Why bother with any of the opinions of other people who have been doing it for years, people who make their living reading fiction and have their finger on the pulse of the reading public, when you know that the reaction will likely be contrary to your expectations?

Another issue I have with vanity publishing (another name for “self-publishing”, and one that I think is perhaps more apt) is the potential for waste. To force a book into the world, to demand that your work be printed on paper regardless of the fact that no one may read it, strikes me as arrogant. The vanity publishers are essentially consuming a vast amount of physical resources in the pursuit of an ego boost. Publishing an e-book solves this problem, and is made much easier with Apple’s introduction of iBooks Author. This nifty little app lets you compile material for your very own e-book, which you can then sell through Apple. Though marketed as a way to produce custom textbooks, it also encourages people to produce “any other kind of book”. While paperless and slightly more responsible, it doesn’t really bear on this story, as the acquaintance in question has had physical books printed. Hundreds of them.

More books that are not self-published

Self-publishing does not a novelist make. If anything, it risks exposing the participants as self-aggrandizing blowhards who feel that there is nothing that the world could possibly offer that they did not themselves think of first. The conceit of self-applying the moniker of “author” based on a single self-published work is an affront to all the legitimate writers who toil and pay attention to their craft. I’m talking of the people who publish essays in journals, who submit their short stories for publication in magazines or even contests, who knock out articles for newspapers and blogs; in short, the people who take the craft of writing seriously.

For it is a craft, an art. It takes work and it takes training. It takes overcoming your ego and releasing your work into the world for others to evaluate. Pay your dues, work out your chops; don’t just skip to the finish line and try to claim the title. Releasing a finished product without gauging whether there is any demand or want for said product seems to me reckless and self-serving.

That is not to say that I am against the idea of art for art’s sake. If you feel the drive to create, by all means, fill your boots. Start a blog. Start a letter writing campaign. Take some writing classes. But have some humility. Have some perspective. Disabuse yourself of the notion that, just because you think something is great, the universe will abide you. The world is not your Mom. Cranking out thousands of words a day does not make you a writer; it makes you a typist (as Capote once said of Kerouac’s “On The Road”, a book that was not self-published). One may applaud the enthusiasm, however the bravado is embarrassing (as Ethan Hawke once said to Winona Ryder in “Reality Bites”, a movie that has naught to do with publishing).

To be sure, there are plenty of bad books that get published anyway, despite having been vetted by a publisher. Yes, there may be an excellent writer out there who is unable to get published in the traditional manner and for whom self-publishing would certainly open doors. I am just not convinced that there are so many great authors out there who are unpublished that it warrants opening the gates (I’m looking at you, Apple) to the barbarians and pedestrians who always thought that they could write a book, based on no other fact than they can read one.

But such is the nature of the modern age, it seems. Self-apply a label, and with some imagination and the help of technology, you are it. Buy a digital camera, become an instant wedding photographer. Self-publish a book and you’re an author. By this measure, I am a professional model-maker, illustrator, photographer and diorama-ist, as well as a filmmaker, folk singer and children’s party clown.

Oh, and a writer.

A lot of my resolutions to this point have been defeated by excuses which is why I think I didn’t make any this year, but I do feel a little lost when I don’t have a major project on the horizon. An invitation from @holdencalgary to take part in this site presented an interesting challenge for me. You see, I’ve always wanted to do this.

When I was in 4th grade living in Saint John, I did a project on what I wanted to be when I grew up. Author was my chosen profession, because I was such a huge reader that I just needed a piece of that world. To this day, I blame Scholastic book fairs for starting any shopping addiction I may have. I killed that project so hard that my teacher showed it to the whole class. I was the centre of attention and the rush was incredible.

The same year I entered my first writing contest called Change the Channel. The premise was that you had to take an ENTIRE WEEK off of watching television, and write an essay about your experience. I love television. LOVE. It was the first time I remember sacrificing something so huge in my life, but I did it! I remember once peeking into a room where my sisters were gathered around The Cosby Show and I lingered, but I didn’t stay. I was going to be an author, and that took dedication to the craft.

Weeks after my submission, I received a call. THE call. I had won a prize! I was to show up at the award ceremony at the local library a week later to be honoured. I remember freaking out, running around the house, picturing my prize. Would it be one of those giant cheques? A trophy? Would there be room in the car for it? There was so much to think about. I told everyone I knew. I invited my teacher. I bought a new dress.

The night of the awards gala, I showed up flanked by my proud parents to what looked more like a reading circle than the pomp & circumstance I had in my mind. I was handed a program and my eyes darted all over the page, searching for my name in print. And… It wasn’t there. The rest is a blur. I received a book before leaving, which in the literary world is an athlete’s participation ribbon. The shame still lies in my heart.

To this day, I don’t know where things went wrong. When they phoned me, did I hear wrong? Did they lose my trophy? I’ll never know. All I can think is thank heavens my teacher couldn’t make it. When I look back on it, it’s almost like that was the turning point where reading and writing fell a few notches on my importance scale and watching television took its place. I have become so good at it that I even spent my last day off watching the 15 wedding shows clogging up the DVR.

If that isn’t dedication to excuses, I don’t know what is!

2012 is going to be about doing something with my zillions of ideas and ambitions. A resolutionless year has begun with an opportunity to act on one of my earliest dreams. Starting with this post.

I can’t go into details lest it get me in more trouble than I’m already in.

I learned a little something something about unfriending, though.

(Sidebar: Isn’t it wonderful that we’ve introduced the word ‘unfriend’ into our vernacular? It takes me back to the 2004-05 locked-out season in the NHL when my future ex-husband Steve Yzerman said they were still considering ‘unsuspending’ the season. But I digress …)

Last fall, Facebook introduced the subscription button.

“Now you can hear from people you’re interested in, even if you’re not friends,” the subhead says.

Don’t even get me started on how convoluted a relationship that can create … more so than Facebook has already managed to screw up many of our day-to-day relationships.

It’s really intended for you to follow journalists, celebrities and political figures without having to be friends with them.

I allowed the subscription button to appear on my profile page. I’m on a job hunt right now and I want to seem interesting and knowledgeable to potential employers.

We know that 91% of employers use our favourite social media platforms to screen job applicants. The good news is 68% of employers have hired a candidate because of something they saw about them on a social networking site.

So I want people to subscribe to my feed. I want potential employers to find my website via Facebook, see the pictures I take and become familiar with my writing style. And I’ve been very careful to distinguish between the posts I want public and the posts I only want my friends to see.

All of the people in my 300-plus friends list (not a brag, I wish it was smaller) automatically were subscribed to my feed when I placed that little button on my profile page.

The trouble is, when you unfriend someone, he’s still subscribed to your updates.

Wait … what?

Yep.

I noticed it this morning. I unfriended the individual in question and then doublechecked the page. It said ‘XXXXX XXXXXXXXX is subscribed to your posts.’

I scurried over to Facebook Help and learned that the only way to stop someone from subscribing to your posts is to block him.

You and I both know there will be enough fallout from unfriending the individual.

But blocking? That’s, like, the harshest move ever. And pardon the tone of a 14-year-old there but Facebook has the ability to bring adult relationships down to a junior high level.

Ultimately, I blocked the person to release him as a subscriber from my posts and then right away unblocked him to reduce the severity of backlash I might face later today when he figures it out.

Facebook is a tangled web we weave, that’s for sure.

And unless we know all the intricacies of our privacy and account settings, we can get caught with our pants down.

So here’s one little lesson that I learned today and thought I’d share with you.

I’m sure there will be more.

(Written by a Canadian and an American)

With every trip to the US, I am always amazed at the reaction I get from people when they discover I am Canadian. Same goes when you travel outside of North America… the perception of Canadians and Americans is quite different. But are we really?

From the Canadian Side

Growing up, the prospects of going to the US were slim to none. I grew up on an island, and getting off that island was as expensive to us as it was to fly to Europe. Now in Canada, we get American TV, we watch American sports, we buy American products, and so on… The majority of our population lives in southern Canada, with a large percentage of that population within a short flight or drive to the US. Heck, even a good portion of southern Ontario is further south than many US cities, yet the differences are often bantered about on both sides. Common jokes usually revolve around us Canadians and our beavers (animal), living in ice houses, with no electricity, and overall being a very passive people. We are not all that involved in politics, and some might say we are polite to a fault.

As a kid, my house was filled with the sounds of Cheers, Three’s Company, Family Ties, the Cosby Show, and at any given moment you would hear the sweet sounds of Neil Diamond, John Denver, and more. Personally, I was a big Doors fan, and when I hit high school, Seattle-based bands like Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Alice in Chains and Soundgarden would be playing through my headphones every day. We would watch the NFL every Sunday, follow our favorite NHL teams (the majority of which are in the US), and play baseball, football, soccer, hockey and other sports.

When I became an adult and started to travel, I would always get the same excitement when I would travel to the US. Seattle, Phoenix, Florida, Washington, Las Vegas, Atlanta… the list goes on… The one thing that I started to realize with every trip, was that Canadians and Americans are pretty similar. Sure, the US for the most part is a hell of a lot warmer, but for every city or small town I travel to, the smaller I start to realize the gap is. In business, I have been fortunate to attend a lot of industry events, conferences and such. With every trip, I meet new and wonderful people, many of whom are contributors on this very site, and have become friends along the way. When we meet, we sit around and discover that our life and work experiences are pretty much the same. With social networking becoming mainstream, sharing our lives becoming instantaneous, there are often times that I don’t even realize when I am talking to an American or a Canadian. I am simply talking to people.

There are of course a few obvious differences. Americans are much more involved in politics. The division between Liberals, Conservatives and the NDP does not even begin to compare to the split between Republicans and Democrats. I remember when Obama was running for President, and Canadians were completely engaged. We could barely pull ourselves away from the tv as we were all swept up in Obama-mania. I think there was a federal election around the same time… I couldn’t even tell you. What was happening in the US was much more captivating. We all stood around in disbelief on 9-11, and many Americans found safe harbour and open doors in many Canadian cities across the country.

Canadians seem to have a pretty good understanding of the geography of the US, and a lot of us travel to the US for business or pleasure.. (heck, they have Disney World, what parents haven’t felt the pressure to go). We know that Obama is the president, we know when big events happen, and we know regardless of political background, you all support your military. Maybe American tv is to credit for Canadians knowledge of the US. Who doesn’t love watching CNN’s over the top coverage of everything from a weather storm to a political debate?

Sure there are little everyday differences. If you want to see a confused Canadian, just ask us to explain how cold it is in fahrenheit and not celsius (subtract 32 and divide by 2 or something like that). Anyone under the age of 50 is probably reaching for a converter on their smart phone. Little differences aside, there are cultural differences of course. Just as there are cultural differences in towns across Canada, or in different towns across the US. Then there is the population gap. The US has approximately 312 million people compared to our 34 million. That’s over ten times the population in the US, in a smaller area. That’s a major difference, but at the end of the day, we’re just people.

From the American Side

I’m so happy that Jon asked me to add the American perspective, because I am a red-blooded patriotic American for sure.  ”Oorah!” as my former-marine brother-in-law would say.

The question of whether Americans and Canadians are really that different is an interesting one, and almost begs the question of whether ANY of us in the world are different.  As Jon says, there are cultural and experiential differences, but at the heart, we really are all just people, looking for a lot of the same things – love, passion in our work, a feeling of security and deeply satisfying lives.

Now, that may sound a little touchy-feely to you, particularly coming from a Jersey-American, but I’ve traveled around the world a bit in the last seven years, and despite having never actually been to Canada, this has been my experience.

But let’s talk differences.

Sure, I’ve never been to Canada, but my best friend married a Canadian (coincidentally the captain of our university hockey team), and I went to university way up north (to me), which was practically in Canada, so I feel I have a unique perspective.

And the first thing that comes to mind is bacon.  And ketchup…but we’ll get to that in a minute.

We jokingly asked our friend’s husband once if Canadians just refer to Canadian bacon as “bacon.” He got pretty mad (for a Canadian) and insisted that Canadians don’t even eat Canadian bacon! They only eat “back bacon.” Having only asked him about this, I have to wonder…is that true?

And the obsession with all things ketchup…I just don’t understand it. Sure, I love ketchup on a hot dog, and my cheeseburger…but ketchup potato chips?  Hmm. Not my cup of tea.

But in all seriousness, I’ve found that Americans don’t know all that much about Canada – as a nation (and I’m sure this won’t shock anyone), we’re fairly us-centric.  We don’t learn in school how many provinces Canada has, or whether you have a prime minister or a president.  We learn nothing about Canadian history, and it’s only because I love hockey that I know the Canadian national anthem at all. Most Americans’ experiences with Canadians is the belief that it’s cold and snowy year round, everyone plays hockey, and interjects “eh” as much as possible in every conversation.

The us-centric attitude here in the US hurts us, absolutely, though there are many people who yearn to know more about the world, and make the effort to do so (I would include myself in that group). But maybe in that sense, we’re also not all that different – I’ve met a LOT of people in my travels who, despite never having visited the US, have very definitive and negative impressions about who we are as people.  Are there “Ugly Americans” out there? Sure, but there are ugly versions of every nationality.

As the world becomes more accessible, both through ease of travel and through the wires that connect us virtually, I see less and less that differentiates us.  In some ways, this makes me a bit sad, because having our own cultures and own quirks are what make us wonderful.  But at the same time, it’s opened my life up to having friends around the world, who I’ve learned are a lot like me.  And that’s a wonderful thing.

And for the record – not all of us are obsessed with politics (though that probably is true for the most part)…and please, please, take Justin Bieber back. We don’t want him.

(Written by a Canadian and an American: @holdencalgary and @LindsayGriffith)

Photo: Some rights reserved by autiscy via Flickr

Anthony Green's sophomore solo album, Beautiful Things

Anthony Green, Doylestown, Pa. native, former Saosin lead singer, Circa Survive front man, and The Sound of Animals Fighting member, has released his second solo album, “Beautiful Things.”

“Avalon,” Green’s first album, was released August of 2008. Four years later, he has finally released his follow-up, “Beautiful Things” on Jan. 15.

“Avalon” was a soulful letter about the heartache and love Green found in his relationship with now-wife, Meredith Green. Since the album, Green has gotten married and started his own family.

“Beautiful Things” begins with “If I Don’t Sing,” a catchy Circa-esque song about the unhappiness he would feel if he didn’t sing.

Green draws inspiration from his newborn son in “James’ Song,” an acoustic homage to his child and the undeniable happiness he has brought into Green’s life, as well as in “Love You No Matter What.”

“Lullaby” can be attributed to Meredith and Anthony’s marriage–the song was written by Good Old War for their wedding, as Green sings about how “beautiful things are coming to you,” one of the lovelier tracks on the album.

Green keeps with the darker theme he is accustomed to in both Circa Survive and The Sound of Animals Fighting with “When I’m On Pills,” “Big Mistake,” and “Can’t Be Satisfied.” The crass themes of the songs lend themselves to darker experiences in life.

There are numerous gems on the album including the standout track, “Only Love,” featuring Nate Reuss, formerly of The Format and current lead singer of fun. The song digs at the regret and anger involved in a breakup, with lyrics such as: “Please keep your distance from me/ I know it’s hard to believe/ I never wanted to be your only love/ I know the sting of plight hurts, it only makes matters worse/ I never said I would be your only love.”

The two finish the song with “we need no proper ending, that would mean this meant something.”

Chino from the Deftones makes an appearance on “Right Outside,” giving it an unmistakable sound the musician contributes to both his band, and thus “Beautiful Things.”

Demos of the tracks are featured at the end of the album. The songs are uncut. Need proof? There’s a dog bark on one of the tracks. The rawness of Green’s talent comes through and gives a sense of his process.

The album outdoes “Avalon,” which hardly stands a chance next to what Green did with “Beautiful Things.” Don’t get me wrong, “Avalon” is beautiful, but “Beautiful Things” is gorgeous.

Follow Anthony Green on Twitter: @anthonygreen
On the web: http://anthonygreenschildren.com/
Anthony Green on iTunes

Feature image via: http://anthonygreenschildren.com/category/photo/

You can listen to more of our episodes by following the links at Cinephile Magazine. And if you like what you hear, please review us in iTunes. That’s how we get discovered, and I would very much appreciate it. Thanks!

-Safi, 2012

No?

Oh, maybe you don’t watch as much Fox News as I do. (Please don’t hold that against me. My American is a Republican.)

Before we proceed, watch this:

Dude … really?

It’s quite an amazing invention. Just strap your phone to the side of your head. Hell, the damn thing can even hold a laptop.

Why you would need to strap a laptop to your head escapes me. When I think of extra-curricular uses for my laptop, they typically involve me scaling the outside of the Calgary Tower and throwing the damn thing mercilessly onto the pavement so many storeys below.

It’s genius, really. It fits any phone, even if you haven’t entered the 21st century and still use a flip. It doesn’t require any chargers or wires. You can strap it all on with one hand.

And you can apparently put on a cheerleader’s uniform and do backflips.

Hands-free phone capability is all the rage. Distracted driving legislation is popping up all over our heavily distracted world. Alberta recently instituted Bill 16, which makes it illegal to talk on your phone while you’re operating your wheels.

Now far be it for me to mock innovation. The GoJo may be exactly what you need, especially if you want to wear your laptop on your head. In fact, I now have two laptops — one that works and one that doesn’t — so I could don them like a set of earmuffs!

And they’re cheap. If you order now, you can get two for 10 bucks!

It almost makes the 70 bucks I spent on a set of Bluetooth-enabled headphones seem like wasted cash.

But then again, not really.

I just need to learn how to do backflips.

I have a hard time purging iPhoto of photos. That means that I have thousands of photos, and I don’t take photos that often. Each year I have at least 5 GB of space taken up by digital photos and home movies. We use Apple’s TimeMachine software to back-up our home computer to an external drive and approximately four times a year I manually mirror information to a second hard drive. I know, though, that I am in the minority of users who do this.

My BSc degree is in Computer Science so I understand the importance of backing up data. I also know that while TimeMachine has made things easier, it is not a perfect solution. One solution is to ship everything into the cloud, but who do you go with? How long will the company be around for? What happens to my photos if the company cannot survive as a business? How will my privacy be maintained?

I love how my iTunes information is now stored in iCloud. I’ve even subscribed to iTunes Match so that all of my older music is safe as well. Music, for me, is covered, for now. What about the photos and movies that record my family’s history? Granted, a hundred or so years ago, family photos were a rarity and life went on, but I am of a generation where we always had a camera to record moments. My folks have boxes of slides, negatives and prints stored in their basement. My mother bought a photo scanner so she could digitize all of these memories.

I suppose that if a fire destroyed all of the photos in my parents’ house life would go on. To me, it feels as if it is too easy for digital files to disappear.

Each month a new service provider appears, offering so many gigabytes of space for free, with the more available for a price. How do you protect your digital memories? Do you even think it matters? Are sites like Facebook where you want to save your memories? Or, is this all just an exercise in fear and I should just let it go?