Media: Air Farce New Year's Preview

One of the monitors showed the title screen for the Air Farce's only 2010 appearance, the New Year's Eve show, during a taping on 16-December-2010

TORONTO, ONTARIO - Originally a radio satire show, long a weekly television show, the Royal Canadian Air Farce has been reduced since 2008 to a single annual appearance--an hour-long special that airs on New Year's Eve. When an e-mail went out to past attendees about the 2010 taping, I responded in about 45 minutes and figured I had a chance of getting a seat. I was at least 30 minutes late--the shows had been filled in less than fifteen minutes, and supposedly there were enough ticket requests to fill 21 shows. Yet, the high demand apparently scared potential rush ticket seekers away last Thursday night--there were only five of us, and we were all allowed in!


Original cast members Luba Goy and Roger Abbott chatted with the crowd between scenes during Air Farce taping on 16-December-2010

Not only was I allowed in--I ended up in the front row! I had the best possible photo angles of the set, right in front of the house band when they came on stage, and I was close enough to smell Luba Goy's perfume. Goy, one of three remaining cast members from the radio show still with the program along with Don Ferguson and Roger Abbott, clearly was enjoying doing the show again. All three original cast members made a point of talking to the audience as much as possible between skits.


Alan Park played President Obama and Luba Goy played Secretary of State Clinton in an Old Spice commercial parody on 16-December-2010

For those used to the fast-paced humor of The Daily Show or even the CBC's own This Hour Has 22 Minutes, the Air Farce has a completely different feel. Rather than a series of one-liners, the show takes its time to develop and deliver humor, whether in the form of a long parody of the Old Spice commercials with President Obama in place of Isaiah Mustafa, or a scene about the planning of next year's royal wedding.


Director Pat McDonald spoke with Alan Park between takes of a bed bug skit during the Air Farce taping on 16-December-2010

Attending a taping is so much more interesting than just watching the show not only because of the art of television can be observed, but because the humanity of it can be observed, as things go wrong and re-takes occur, and people have to wait. Nobody on television will see Penelope Corrin trying to hide a recycling bin with her skirt (or Alan Park pretending to be groping Corrin from a distance). At an Air Farce taping, much of that humanity is centered around director Pat McDonald, whose admonishments that "This is still funny" before a re-take, or "This one really made me laugh in rehearsal" delivered in his dry style helped set the tone for the audience. It's hard to imagine an Air Farce show without him.


The "Ground Crew" of David Matheson and Maury Lafoy had donned heavier clothing during taping of the Air Farce on 16-December-2010

There's substantial down time in a live taping while sets are moved and costumes adjusted, and to fill that time for the audience, they play the pre-recorded "Farce Films" to be used during the show. This year, a number were filmed at Roundhouse Park, a treat for me. Most of the time, though, was filled by the Air Farce house band, called the "Ground Crew," consisting of David Matheson and Maury Lafoy. While it is amazing that the whole cast and crew manages to come back together for just one show a year, the consistency of the "Ground Crew" with their old performances from the regular show run was amazing, singing such standards as "Raccoons" and "The Lake's Largest Johnson"--with only holiday songs added to mix to match the time of year.


The final "F-Bomb" of the Air Farce show was dropped during the taping on 16-December-2010

Without giving away the ending, suffice to say that the crew was worried enough about splattering the audience that those of us in the front row were asked to hold a plastic sheet in front of us to catch any flying debris. The camera zoomed in on those of us holding the plastic, so if the footage from Thursday and not the second taping on Friday is used, I will likely appear on television.

The Air Farce New Year's special will air at 8 pm on 31-December-2010 on CBC Television, with a repeat at midnight.

Margin Notes: Mulled Wine, Birds, Joe Canadian

Proud Bavarian Matthias Oschinski poured rum on the sugar cone as part of the process of making mulled wine at his apartment in Toronto, Ontario on 17-December-2010

TORONTO, ONTARIO - One of the highlights of my visit to the Toronto Christmas Market (covered previously) was the mulled wine, which was a really nice (and warm) treat in the cold weather. When my friends Karimah Hudda and Matthias Oschinski invited me over to actually make their own mulled wine, there was no way I was going to turn that down. Friday night, I was treated to how it is actually done in Germany, prominently using bags of spices, a cone of sugar, a special copper pot, and of course red wine, amongst other details. A native Bavarian, Matthias had expressed minor dissatisfaction with the offering at the market, and after drinking his version, I understood why--the spices were much more nicely accented, leading to a taste that isn't quite like anything else I've ever had. I can understand why Matthias and Karimah make mulled wine an annual tradition.


The blue, alcohol-based flame surrounded the sugar cone as mulled wine was prepared on 17-December-2010

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An annual tradition for most North Americans around this time of year is shopping, and malls know that. It surprised me when visiting the Eaton Centre here in Toronto this fall that it looked like their construction project involving flooring and railings wasn't going to be complete in time for the peak holiday season. Sure enough, when I went to shop there on Friday night, the crowds were having to work their way around the construction. What in the world were they thinking when they scheduled that work?

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I'd also like to know what the CBC was thinking when it named the new co-host of the flagship As It Happens show on Radio One. When the CBC fired Barbara Budd as co-host earlier this year, it claimed it wanted to replace presenters with journalists. So who did they hire? Jeff Douglas, best known as the actor that portrayed "Joe Canadian" in the famous Molson Beer "I am Canadian" commercial. Granted, Douglas has done significant documentary work, promises to push social media for the show, and I rather like him, but it sure doesn't look like the point of replacing Budd was to find a journalist. It makes the whole process look rather cold.

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A small bird braved the elements at Toronto's Lambton Park on 19-December-2010

The weather has been cold in Toronto for the past week, and it has looked like a winter wonderland for about the past week. I went out in the elements today and spotted a Cardinal, but as is usually my luck when male Cardinals are around, I didn't manage to get a decent picture. I had to settle for a LBB ("little brown bird") instead, shown above at Lambton Park.

Radio Pick: Engineering Search

TORONTO, ONTARIO - CBC producer Ira Basen has been written about in this feature before; pretty much everything he's been involved in has been gold from my perspective, so it's not surprising that he has again earned my weekly radio pick. His latest effort documents how Google became so dominant in search and the Internet in general, airing originally as a 30-minute documentary in the second hour of The Sunday Edition and appearing about 36 minutes into the podcast.

Listen to MP3 of The Sunday Edition "Engineering Search"

Radio Pick: Female Entrepeneurs

TORONTO, ONTARIO - A show that I regularly listen to but hasn't risen to the level of being a pick has finally become my weekly radio pick. Radio has been trying to hard to reach a younger audience. Interestingly, the programs that seem to be surviving while succeeding in that endeavor are not those who jump frenetically from one topic to another, but ones that emphasize production values and sound and try to take on topics of interest to younger people. A classic example is CBC Radio One's Spark. This week's 53-minute show was an especially good case study, taking on relatively heady topics like the small number of females leading start-up companies and copyright law, but making extensive use of production gimmicks and a focus on practical consequences to a tech-savvy audience to create a great listening experience anyway.

Listen to MP3 of Spark "Female Entrepreneurs"

Holiday: Sounds of the Season 2010

All the artists from the live broadcast of CBC Radio One Toronto's "Metro Morning" Sounds of the Season broadcast were on-stage for the finale on 3-December-2010

TORONTO, ONTARIO - Once a year, CBC Toronto holds an entire day of live and studio audience tapings of its programming at the national headquarters building in Toronto, Ontario. For the second straight year, I chose to get up early to be down in the Glenn Gould Studio in time to watch the taping of "Metro Morning," the morning drive-time show on CBC Radio One which airs from 5:30 to 8:30.


Host Matt Galloway took a moment before the show opened to send a picture of the audience to Twitter on 3-December-2010

While he had done plenty of live "Sounds of the Season" broadcasts as host of Here and Now, this was host Matt Galloway's first year doing the "Metro Morning" live broadcast. Galloway can hardly be accused of not being technologically adept--as we awaited the beginning of the show, he took a picture of the audience with his phone and posted it to the Internet via Twitter. As luck would have it, I happened to sit just a row away from Galloway's parents who had come to see their son at work!


Denzal Sinclaire performed the "Little Drummer Boy" during the Metro Morning Sounds of the Season live broadcast on 3-December-2010

The real draw of live broadcast is the musical artists that perform. This year, the Metro Morning broadcast featured the Toronto Mass Choir, Pavlo, and Daniela Nardi. Probably the most unusual performance was Elizabeth Shepherd and her Swedish husband Johan Hultqvist (of Mr. Something Something) who did a duet of a Swedish traditional holiday song. However, two performances really blew me away--Denzal Sinclaire, dressed
in jeans, singing the "Little Drummer Boy" with a great jazz sensibility, and Shakura S'Aida doing a wonderful rendition of "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch."


Shakura S'Aida performed the "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" impressing the audience in Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto, Ontario on 3-December-2010

For radio fans like myself, the other big draw of "Sounds of the Season" is the chance to actually see all the radio personalities who are normally just voices. As a past attendee, such broadcasters as traffic reporter Jim Curran, news reporter Jill Dempsey and business commentator Michael Hlinka were familiar faces, but medical columnist Peter Lin was a new face to me and it was equally fun to watch him tease Matt Galloway as it is to hear it on the air.


Dr. Peter Lin shared a lighter moment with host Matt Galloway during the live broadcast of "Metro Morning" on 3-December-2010

At one point, I pulled out my walkman to discover that the there was absolutely no delay in the broadcast--exactly what was happening in front of our eyes was going straight out to 99.1 FM without any buffering. In an age of digital broadcasting, that was remarkably refreshing.


Daily Bread Food Bank Executive Director Gail Nyberg spoke with Matt Galloway about fund-raising totals during the "Sounds of the Season" broadcast on 3-December-2010

Of course, the whole point of the broadcast was to raise money for area food banks including the Daily Bread Food Bank. It doesn't take a special day for that--donations are accepted anytime.

More coverage of the Sounds of the Season Metro Morning broadcast will be forthcoming in an update to my photo site

Radio: Review of Day 6

TORONTO, ONTARIO - It's been some time since I've reviewed a radio show on this blog, and I don't normally wait several months after the start of a new program to subject it to such a treatment. However, it's probably time to weigh in about CBC Radio One's new Saturday morning program, Day 6.

Essentially replacing the former "GO!" variety program (to which I almost never listened), host Brent Bambury has carried over from the previous show and continues to provide a lot of energy to the new broadcast. While focused on popular "cultural touchstones" as opposed to hard news, Day 6 is in a very real sense a "heavier" program than its predecessor. The Issues of the Day are discussed, often comically, between Bambury and a string of guests, even if those issues are anti-Muslim preachers and whether Craigslist runs adult-oriented material and not timelines for leaving Afghanistan, health care reform, or whether the Canadian senate is functioning properly. The production values, as we come to expect from the CBC, are second-to-none.

What was striking from the first show, though, was the sheer amount of material from the United States being presented. While in some sense this is recognition that events in pop culture in the United States drive much of pop culture in Canada, it is a little jarring to see a Canadian-produced program focusing on events in the US. Not only have movements like Islamophobia and the TEA Party been explored, but in one early show, the trivia question for the day was about the event when President Obama's seal fell off a podium where he was giving a speech.

I may have found that notable from the first show, but it didn't really strike me as going too far until The Big 6 contest was announced last week. Listeners are being asked to vote on which stories they think best represent six categories, Newsmaker of the Year, Trend of the Year, Flameout of the Year, Feel Good Story of the Year, Comeback Story of the Year, and Feel Good Story of the Year. The show presented one suggestion for each category. Of those six suggestions, only one--Justin Bieber for Trend of the Year--was Canadian, while three--the TEA Party, Conan O'Brien, and Jersey Shore--were American. For a show on a network chartered to showcase Canadian culture, this seemed a major failing.

Perhaps the CBC is minimizing the Canadian content in Day 6 in an attempt to make it palatable for syndication in the United States. Yet, there's already an overload in Saturday morning public radio programming to run after Weekend Edition in the United States--with Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me, Car Talk, Whad'Ya Know, This American Life, West Coast Live, and Bob Edwards Weekend just to name some obvious options. Good production values are not going to be enough to give Day 6 a slot in many, if any, markets.

I don't see Day 6 living on in its current incarnation. Perhaps with more emphasis on Canadian content, it can continue with a similar format for some time in the future.

Media: Quirks and Quarks 35th Anniversary

Ten scientists joined host Bob McDonald for the taping of the Quirks and Quarks 35th anniversary show at the Glenn Gould studio in Toronto, Ontario on 2-November-2010

TORONTO, ONTARIO - The first Canadian radio show that made it into my permanent listening habits was CBC Radio One's science show, Quirks and Quarks. The program, traditionally airing at noon on Saturday, is only a matter of months younger than I am. While I didn't discover it until 1993, it had been airing since 1975, meaning that it turns 35 this fall.


Host Bob McDonald introduced the 35th anniversary Quirks and Quarks taping to a live audience in Toronto, Ontario on 2-November-2010

Originally hosted by David Suzuki (its second host, Jay Ingram was in attendance), the program has been hosted for the last 19 seasons by Bob McDonald, whose enthusiasm for space and physics and propensity to use very simple props in television appearances has inspired considerable satire. To open the evening, McDonald asked questions based on this season's programming and gave away Quirks and Quarks t-shirts; a particularly smart couple sitting in front of me each won a shirt to go along with the "Corporate Ladder" puzzles given to each attendee.


Each attendee of the 35th anniversary taping of Quirks and Quarks received a "Corporate Ladder" puzzle seen on 2-November-2010

The audience of the show, and in particular this taping, tends to be quite educated and technology-savvy. Quirks and Quarks was the first CBC show to offer on-line streaming audio, MP3 downloads, and a podcast--I remember each. High-powered scientists fit right in the group--someone who turned out to be geneticist Marla Sokolowski actually spent some time with the general audience line trying to figure out where she should go as a guest on the show!


Geneticist Marla Sokolowski spoke with host Bob McDonald during the 35th anniversary show of Quirks and Quarks on 2-November-2010

The person that really stole the show, though, was Dr. Lee Smolin. The theme of the show was the greatest change or discovery in a variety of fields in the 35 years that Quirks and Quarks had been broadcasting. Smolin stated that for basic physics, the biggest surprise was that there had been no surprises in those 35 years--relativity theory had largely held up, and no unified theory had emerged. What resulted was a wonderful exchange between host McDonald questioning whether the field was progressing and Smolin talking about his excitement about experiments about to be run in supercolliders.


Lee Smolin and host Bob McDonald shared enthusiasm for physics in a great exchange during the 35th anniversary show of Quirks and Quarks on 2-November-2010

Quirks and Quarks may last another 35 years. In her introduction, Denise Donlon, Executive Director of English Radio Services, pointed out that the Australian science radio show on ABC, The Science Show, is equal in age with Quirks and Quarks, and she wants the CBC show to last longer. In any event, the 35th anniversary show itself will air on 13-November-2010.

Culture: To Err is Medicine

Dr. Brian Goldman, host of White Coat, Black Art, spoke at the "To Err is Medicine" Town Hall in Toronto, Ontario on 12-October-2010

TORONTO, ONTARIO - The CBC Radio One medical show White Coat, Black Art held its first public Town Hall last night at the Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto, Ontario. Held in co-operation with the University of Toronto's Mini-Med School, the forum was focused on the issue of "minimizing and managing medical errors."

Having been to a number of CBC events, this one has to rank as an odd one. For one thing, Glenn Gould Studio was not even close to being filled for an evening event--normally one has to be there quite early to get in the door. Secondly, the "star"--show host Dr. Brian Goldman, entered the studio so quietly and rapidly that he was sitting down before most of the audience even noticed him, which meant no introductory applause. I guess such stealthy movement comes with the pressures of the profession.

The event was nominally for the taping of a single broadcast of White Coat, Black Art, which runs only 27 minutes. The forum went on for nearly two hours of discussion, so it will be interesting to see how the material is edited down for what will surely be at least two episodes of the program, which airs at 11 am Saturday and 11:30 am Monday on CBC Radio One nationwide and is available as a podcast.

Despite the longer-than-expected discussion, the message of the evening could really be reduced to just one sentence: Communication amongst health professionals, families, and patients needs to be improved, whether through technology or changes in culture. Everything else that came up could be considered an elaboration or sub-point of that single idea.

A clear message, expressed in one way or another by every member of the expert panel, was that every patient should have an advocate, ideally a family member, who looks out for them during any interaction with the medical system. That individual makes certain that information known to the patient actually gets to new members of the medical team, who otherwise not realize something that would affect their assessment of the situation.


The expert panel consisted of Lianne Jeffs, Dr. Barry McLellan, Pam Marshall, and Dr. Kaveh Shojania for the "To Err Is Medicine" Town Hall on 12-October-2010

One of the more entertaining sequences of the night occurred when the panelists discussed past medical mistakes in their histories. Lianne Jeffs, the Director of Nursing and Clinical Research at St. Michael's Hospital, Pam Marshall, the Executive Director of Patient Relations and Legals Affairs at The Scarborough Hospital, Dr. Barry McLellan, President and CEO of Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Dr. Kaveh Shojania, Director of the University of Toronto Centre for Patient Safety, and Dr. Goldman all told stories. Marshall described her reaction to each as "verklempt," a word I hadn't heard outside of Saturday Night Live in years.

Dr. Shojania made amongst the most interesting points of the evening. He stated that doctors need to pay attention to "little voices" and red flags telling them that a situation might not be what it seemed, rather than following training that tells them to be strong and forge ahead. He noted that doctors can become "second victims" when a mistake occurs--he almost left the field as a result of the mistake he talked about. Finally, he took a firm stand against "half apologies" after a mistake occurs, supporting the relatively new legislation in Ontario that allows doctors to make a full apology without invoking legal responsibility.

There seemed concern that the audience might bring up too personal or too involved stories, but all stories were quite brief and led to precise questions. One medical student, starting a second career, asked what I thought was the best question of the whole night--why can the steel industry have a greater focus on the safety of human beings than the medical industry? A point was made that medicine has learned much about communication from the aviation industry.

A question I don't expect to find as part of the final program revolved around using foreign-trained physicians to help reduce the workload on residents and other health professionals. The two doctors were so instantly dismissive of the idea that it couldn't help but reinforce the impression that doctors are only interested in preserving their status and have no interest in doing anything about the foreign credential issue. A foreign-trained physician happened to be sitting right in front of me, and her disgust at their reaction was quite obvious.

While the discussion seemed productive, I walked away at the end of the session yesterday with one primary thought--it seems preventing medical errors is not brain surgery; there are plenty of ideas on how to do it. It would be a shame if the country had to wait for the old doctors to retire before new ideas are implemented.

Margin Notes: Population, Harvest, CBC, Ross

The population of Hamilton, Ontario was "you" according to this public art noted on the MacNab Street South pedestrian underpass beneath the Canadian Pacific tracks on 28-September-2010

TORONTO, ONTARIO - Sometimes, an idea appears that it's hard to believe hasn't been seen before. I had a feeling like that after encountering the above piece of public art during a brief visit to Hamilton, Ontario--the idea of the population of something being "you" (or, in the case of Toronto, you and 2.5 million friends) seems so obvious, but I could not remember seeing it before.

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A horse-drawn cart was offering rides inside High Park in Toronto, Ontario on 3-October-2010

Closer to home, when I took the above photo during the Harvest Festival in Toronto's High Park, I couldn't decide if I liked the bicyclist that got in the frame. Was the contrast between modern clothing and technology and the horses interesting, or had a picture out of another era been ruined? I honestly don't know; maybe readers will weight in.

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It was easy to answer a question on an employment questionnaire this week. Asked to rate the desirability of various activities, I encountered a listing for "operating a merry-go-round at a community event." Considering that I had spent the previous afternoon giving rides on a 1929 historic turntable for visitors to the Toronto Railway Heritage Centre, analogous in many ways to a merry-go-round, that one was easy: "Very satisfying."

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As explained at length in a previous post, I no longer find the Dave Ross Show on KIRO-FM satisfying, and looking at the logs (I didn't actually listen) last week, there's another reason why. A main reason to tune in had been the regular guests David Sirota, Thomas Frank, and Carl Jeffers. All three of them seem to have been canceled in favor of lifestyle talk.

* * * * * *

While not as fatal as programming decisions at KIRO-FM, sometimes programmers at the CBC mystify me. In the fall schedule for CBC Radio One, I can't figure out Saturday morning. Both the new show "Day Six" (airing at 10) and "The Irrelevant Show" (airing at 11:30) offer a lighter take on the world. Yet, programmers have scheduled "White Coat, Black Art," a serious show on medicine, in between at 11:00. Especially since I imagine much of the audience of "White Coat, Black Art" also tunes in to the serious "Quirks and Quarks" science show at noon, why in the world isn't the order "Day Six," "The Irrelevant Show," and then "White Coat, Black Art" and "Quirks and Quarks"? There's a reason I'm mostly listening to these shows by podcasts these days!

Radio Pick: Hossein Derakhshan

TORONTO, ONTARIO - This week's radio pick comes from CBC Radio One. Sometimes getting the right guests can bring an obscure story to live. I happen to think the case of Iranian-Canadian blogger Hossein Derakhshan has been under-covered, but CBC's The Current found people that knew him to include in their coverage, creating a compelling twenty-six minutes of radio.

Listen to streaming MP3 of The Current "Hossein Derakhshan"

Radio Pick: Value of University Forum

TORONTO, ONTARIO - This week's radio pick comes from CBC Radio One's The Sunday Edition. Public forums bringing together people from across a nation can be quite informative, as was the case of CBC Radio One's forum on university education held in Halifax and broadcast this week. While host Michael Enright brought out the baseline positions of the various guests in the first hour, the really interesting side issues came out in the second hour of the broadcast, making for some interesting radio. I will not soon forget Laura Penny's outburst "All of western civilization is a bubble," for example.

Listen to streaming MP3 of The Sunday Edition "Is A University Education Worth the Cost?"

Radio Pick: Kelly McBride on Spark

TORONTO, ONTARIO - This week's radio pick comes from the new season of CBC Radio One programming. One of the more pernicious aspects of the "Ground Zero Mosque" is how that term will never be removed from the story because of Search Engine Optimization. Kelly McBride did the best job I've heard yet of describing how those with an agenda can define the language of the debate through search engines in the opening interview with Nora Young on the 54-minute season premiere of Spark.

Listen to MP3 of Spark "Kelly McBride"

Radio Pick: Homegrown Terrorism

TORONTO, ONTARIO - This week's radio pick comes from the only national call-in show in Canada, the CBC's "Cross Country Checkup". It's been difficult to find insightful programming on the New York Muslim community center story, especially from the Islamic perspective. A stand-out example finally emerged thanks to guest Sayyid Amiruddin on last Sunday's Cross Country Checkup. Amiruddin not only clearly articulated the difference between radicalized groups and the generic religion of Islam, but offered concrete strategies to prevent additional people from becoming radicalized. His call, 71 minutes into the 113-minute program, should be widely distributed as background to any serious discussion of this red-hot topic.

Click on the "Play" button at this link to listen to streaming audio of Cross Country Checkup "Homegrown Terrorism"

Radio Pick: The Late Show

TORONTO, ONTARIO - As the summer radio season comes to the end, one more CBC Radio One summer show has made my weekly radio pick. New examples of quality story-telling on the radio are always welcome, and the second season of "The Late Show" provided several. This final 27-minute episode for the summer on the life of artist Sue Klabunde may have been the most inspirational of series.

Listen to MP3 of The Late Show "Sue Klabunde"

Media: Nice Summer Season, CBC

TORONTO, ONTARIO - While the summer, as defined by the CBC as the ten weeks leading up to Labour Day, is not quite over yet, the majority of the special CBC Radio One programming for the summer has already aired. At this point, I am willing to assess the summer as a good one.

By the standard I often cite as a measure of my opinion, the number of programs that make my weekly radio pick, the summer of 2010 looks about average. The summer programs have made my list only three times (though this week may prove to be a fourth), compared with four in 2007 and 2008, and three in 2009, which I have cited as a poor year for summer programming. The difference this year is that a variety of programs of decent quality have been on the schedule, just not rising to the level of weekly pick--and that hasn't happened since 2007.

My favorite program of the bunch, making an appearance on the weekly picks, has been a new season of a show heard the past two summers--ReVision Quest, a show that manages to inject humour with insight about the native experience in Canada. I won't mind if this program comes back next summer, or even on the regular schedule.

The new show that has made the biggest impression on me has been Promised Land, which has been telling stories of immigration to Canada. As I stated when I chose an episode as a weekly pick, this series ought to be part of history education in this country, telling the stories of the very different ways that people have arrived here.

Another new show that has made it to my weekly pick has been Asunder, a show about divorce. While I have found its content to vary in educational value each week, in general it has been a worthwhile listen.

It's the shows that haven't quite made it to the pick that are remarkable this year. The Main Ingredient may not have actually affected my cooking or eating habits yet, but it has been fascinating to learn about what different cultures consider disgusting, or how cuisines come to be associated with certain countries.

When it was on during its first season in 2008, I wasn't that impressed with The Late Show. For whatever reason, this second season has seemed more compelling to me, and I found myself looking forward to the "extraordinary life stories of deceptively ordinary Canadians." Nobody can deny that Gordon Pinsent is a great radio story-teller.

Even the comedy show impressed me. It took about ten minutes of the first show to be convinced that This Is That was not serious, and in the past I have not bothered to listen to such shows in the summer. Yet, this show was a brilliant satire of radio, news, Canada, and just about anything else it could touch. There were many memorable skits on this show, from underground housing to where the alleged Lake Okanagan monster Ogopogo might be located to Kevin Nealon buying a town in Saskatchewan. The running gags from the grammatical nonsense of the name ("It's like Jeopardy--the show's name is really 'That'") to the voice mails from "Sue" were all well-done.

In fact, about the only summer shows that didn't do much for me were (surprisingly) The Bottom Line with David Suzuki, which I thought had potential but mostly bored me, and Being Jann with Jann Arden, which was intended as Saturday morning light fare and fit the bill.

So, the CBC Radio One summer 2010 schedule may not have had that many incredible must-hear moments, it had a depth of listenable shows. I would call it a successful season, and after the disastrous 2009 summer season, that was good to hear.

Media: Not the CBC's Credit (Again)

TORONTO, ONTARIO - The abrupt departure of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)'s head of English services, Richard Stursberg, on Friday, has opened discussions on his impact on Canada's public broadcaster and what changes his successor may bring. While most of the facts surrounding this event have yet to come out, emotions about Stursberg are flowing freely. Most people seem to view his largest impact on the CBC to be an emphasis on ratings--for better or for worse, ratings for CBC Television and Radio One are clearly up during his tenure (Radio Two, er Radio 2, is a different story with declines in nearly every major market after re-formatting). Most attention will be paid to television, which costs more and was the focus of Stursberg attempt to bring in more revenue through advertising, which required more viewers. However, there is a point to be made about the increase in ratings of CBC Radio One, the news and information network, in recent years.

Much like similar trends in the United States, where public radio stations are at the top or near the top of the ratings in many major markets including Boston, Seattle, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C., CBC is not gaining in the rankings because its programming is getting better. Instead, in my opinion, it is attracting listeners because the commercial alternatives are becoming less enticing.

The trend may be easier to follow in American cities, where the decline in the quality of stations like KIRO (now FM) in Seattle and WBZ in Boston is clear. Two decades ago, I could leave the radio on either of those stations for hours and not become bored. Now, one news cycle (we can argue if that is really 30 minutes or 15 minutes on these stations) is about all I can stand before the repetition of stories and injection of tiresome personality takes its toll. With talk stations generally vapid, that leaves turning to public radio if one does not want music.

Here in Toronto, just spin the dial in the morning. News 680 is okay but like its analogs south of the border is generally only listenable for a half-hour news cycle before it becomes repetitive, AM 640 is generally spewing unlistenable anger about local politics, Radio 1050 is simulcasting television news (never a formula for great radio), and Newstalk 1010 takes on far fewer serious topics than it did just four years ago when I moved here. Furthermore, those information alternatives are on AM--some young people I know have portable radios that do not even have AM capability, just MP3's and FM. On the FM dial, about the only information programming is on CBC Radio One. So, between dial placement and the competition, there's little wonder that Metro Morning on the CBC does well in the ratings with those seeking information, which during morning drive is a sizable portion of the audience.

The story is similar across Canada. In major markets, most often the real commercial competition for CBC Radio One (which is now on FM virtually everywhere) is on AM, and has declined in quality. If anything, CBC Radio One has declined in quality, with more repeat instead of original programming and decreased budgets. However, that decline pales in comparison with the decline in commercial radio, and results in net increased ratings for CBC Radio One.

It would be nice to credit the CBC (or even Stursberg) for the change in radio ratings, but I'm afraid it is not their doing, just like the flow of talent discussed here some months back. It's the decline in commercial radio that has led to increased ratings for CBC Radio One.

Radio Pick: Promised Land

TORONTO, ONTARIO - This week's radio pick turns to summer programming. One of the interesting concepts for summer shows from the CBC this year has been "Promised Land," which tells stories of escapes from other countries ending in immigration to Canada. Some of the stories have been amazing. This week, it seemed like the show might become cliche in its 27-minute broadcast as it followed a Vietnam War deserter from the United States. Instead, it proved just as gripping as the rest of the series, and ended with considerable insight into the two cultures.

Listen to MP3 of Promised Land "Escape from the USA"

Margin Notes: Signs, Holmes, Indians

Yet another very strange advertisement was found on Front Street in Toronto, Ontario on 25-July-2010

TORONTO, ONTARIO - I've said before on this blog many times that one never knows what one will see on the streets of Toronto, and the sign above is another classic example. Found near the west end of Front Street at Bathurst, it actually advertises a sommelier service, so there's no need to check out the link.

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A new bar for private events was observed on the mezzanine at the John Street Roundhouse in Toronto, Ontario on 25-July-2010

Of course, many of us that spend time in Roundhouse Park here in Toronto think that Jesus just might drink beer if he were here, not wine. After all, Steam Whistle Brewing offers free samples to visitors from their home in stalls 1 through 14 of the John Street Roundhouse. If in the area, I strongly advise stopping by to check out their pilsner brew.

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Roundhouse Park was inside the G20 security zone last month, and the aftermath of that event has been decidedly low-key in Canadian public opinion. In his Spacing magazine column last week, John Lorinc presented a case for why Canadians aren't worked up about the G20, but are talking about long census forms, a nice complement to some of this blog's recent writings about Canadian character.

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From the alternate media to the mainstream, I have to admit that Ian Hanomansing's stint on CBC Television's The National last week sometimes confused me. Hanomansing's voice is so much like that of Hari Sreenivasan of the PBS NewsHour that I sometimes wasn't sure which program I was listening to--newscasters of Indian origin are making a strong impact at both networks.

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When listening to public radio, I sometimes learn things that I'm pretty certain I never really needed to know. On last week's To The Best of Our Knowledge from Wisconsin Public Radio, one hour was an excellent show on autism, but I'm not sure I needed to hear Sherlock Holmes described as autistic. First public radio tells me that Holmes may have been gay, now it tells me he was autistic. What are they going to come up with next?

Margin Notes: World Cup, Perks, Blog, Media

A car was decorated with many Spanish flags on Dundas Street West near the Humber River on 7-July-2010

TORONTO, ONTARIO - Not that there weren't many Dutch fans and plenty of red, white, and blue striped flags on cars, but I have to say that the Spanish fans here really came out for their team, long before the final match yesterday. The most flags I saw on a single car before yesterday is pictured above, and I will not soon forget the Spanish flag draped across the hood of a red pizza delivery vehicle waiting for its next call at the local Pizzaiolo outlet as two Spanish-speaking individuals waxed its sides.

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Now that the World Cup is over, it would be nice if I could finally get K'naan's "Wavin' Flag" out of my head, particularly the World Cup duet version with Spaniard David Bisbal. Somehow, I suspect it's still going to take awhile.

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The World Cup helped Toronto get over its recent memories of violence during the G20 summit. Whatever one thinks about his politics, I have to give Ward 14 city councillor Gord Perks a lot of credit for the most thoughtful and surprisingly balanced views he presented on the event, in particular this essay presented in his weekly newsletter, and a subsequent follow-up. The world needs more politicians with communication skills like Perks, regardless of ideology.

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One might wonder if humans are even a thinking species considering what one did to this traffic cone on Dundas Street West in Toronto, Ontario observed on 1-July-2010

I suspect a G20 protester may have had something to do with the message on this traffic cone seen above near Dundas and Dufferin in Toronto, Ontario: "We are not the only species that can think." My question is whether the message was written by a human or a raccoon.

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The previous item seems like something that might be reported on CBC Radio One's evening news magazine As It Happens. Sometimes in the summer, the fill-in hosts really impact the quality of the show, but I have to say this week's team of Peter Armstrong and Chris Howden was absolutely first-rate. I've criticized Armstrong's work as an anchor of World Report, but he's great in an interviewing role. Perhaps when Michael Enright retires we can get him on the Sunday Edition?

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Speaking of radio people, it was quite nostalgic to have Lynn Neary fill in this weekend as host of Weekend All Things Considered on NPR (which, by the way, no longer stands for National Public Radio, but has become another acronym-turned-non-acronym that stands for nothing). I still consider Neary the quintessential host of the program, a role she held from 1984 to 1992.

Media: News Balance Report

TORONTO, ONTARIO - As part of its own self-evaluation program, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation recently released an interim report on balance in its news programming. While most were paying attention to the political balance of its reporting (which proved statistically the same as its commercial competition), I found some of the items in its executive summary to be far more interesting.

Take the issue of the province balance in national news stories. Ontario will receive a strong bias as a result of Parliament being in Ottawa (and, in fact, I think the statistics would have been more useful had stories on the Federal government been separated from other stories from Ontario), but the extent of the bias is stunning. Fully 37% of stories on "The National" had a "primary location" in Ontario--which sounds ridiculous until one realizes that 39% of the population is in Ontario, and then it seems rather unremarkable. Only Quebec is grossly under-represented, in terms of population, being the origin of just 10% of stories while being 22% of the population, and that is largely explained by the anglo-franco linguistic divide. The most over-represented location was British Columbia, with 20% of coverage on 13% of the population, but that was biased by the Olympic games. The other networks show similar trends, with even more over-representation of British Columbia and, if anything, under-representation of Ontario.

I've commented before that the CBC has a large number of female hosts, and this study put numbers to it. Overall, the faces and voices that appear on the CBC are about 60% female and 40% male--compared with 40% female and 60% male on the commercial networks. That's a significant difference, and one that is hard to explain on the commercial side if the studies that show men actually prefer information presented to them by women and that women don't have a strong gender preference are actually true and applicable to news broadcasting.

What really floored me, though, was the balance of genders in the news stories themselves. Because of the dominance of men in politics, I wasn't surprised to see that males were the subject of stories more often than females, but the difference was enormous. On the CBC (and commercial television), 70% of stories had a male figure focused on, while 30% focused on a female. At the commercial radio, it was 84% males and just 16% females. It's hard not to view that as a bias against the importance of women in society.

If the opponents of the CBC were hoping for a smoking gun in this report, they didn't find it. Progressives, though, may have found statistical demonstration of gender bias in Canadian society.