JoeyColeman.ca

On COVID Fatigue

The COVID third wave is the most demoralizing of the pandemic for me. In the first wave, during the early days when it was a crisis, I was too busy responding on campus, moving others out, and then moving myself out. It was the most exhausting, I managed to hold myself together from that exhaustion, but at times barely. The

Media Criticism, "Celebrity" Candidates, and Covering the Issues

Much as the establishment candidates are not speaking to issues of voters, the establishment media (and it does not get more establishment than the NYT) needs to be mindful to choose issues which matter to voters to illustrate candidates qualifications, or lack thereof.

Aren't You a Bit Old to Be in This Class?

I continue to work on some posts for the coming weeks to encourage journalists to apply to be a Fellow-at-Large of the University of Toronto and Southam Fellow at Massey College. The tags for these posts is: Southam Fellowship "Aren't you a bit old to be in this class?", asks the student sitting beside me. I laugh out loud because

Kreigsfilme and Community at Massey College

I continue to work on some posts for the coming weeks to encourage journalists to apply to be a Fellow-at-Large of the University of Toronto and Southam Fellow at Massey College. This adds to the community aspects of the role. I write this on Wednesday night, as I watch A Midnight Clear on my tablet and enjoy chat discussion on

When I Thought Libraries Shouldn't Have Video Games

Time: Summer 2007 Place: A restaurant Setting: Editorial planning meeting Twice a year, we gather to brainstorm the feature style articles for upcoming university issues and the website. One of my story ideas was to highlight that McMaster University's Library now had videos games for checkout and a gaming lounge for students. At a time when academic libraries were cash-strapped,

Grad Student Lecture Nights at Massey College

I continue to work on some posts for the coming weeks to encourage journalists to apply to be a Fellow-at-Large of the University of Toronto and Southam Fellow at Massey College. This adds to the community aspects of the role. Being a Fellow-at-Large of the University of Toronto was a great experience, especially because the role places one among the

Finding No Routine in the Age of COVID

I love my routines, I'm at my happiest when I'm repeating patterns and doing the same things on a weekly or monthly basis. "Boring" is how one my closest friends described me for years. My life in Hamilton is good. Each morning has a routine, while go to a different coffee shop depending on the day of the week, I

Installing TT-RSS on Opalstack

I use Tiny Tiny RSS (TT-RSS) for my RSS reader, it is the most versatile of the self-hosted open source platforms. This audience for this tutorial are people like me, who can do simple tasks but are not actually developers.

10,000 Hours and The Skill Level of Local Politicians

Malcolm Gladwell's 10000 Hour Rule is one of those idioms which captures an idea we want to be true. It is a more catchy variation on the idea that practice makes perfect. In actual practice, the 10000 hour rule is shown not to work in a variety of circumstances. There is a certain amount of innate talent needed for certain

Reclaiming Hamilton, the book, Look on the Brightside

Brightside no longer exists as a physical neighbourhood, yet it is one of the more vibrant communities in Hamilton. How is this, and what is the story behind this community? The neighbourhood itself was mostly demolished and paved over in the 1960s as Hamilton's industrial sector expanded and the industrial highways made wider. Sixty years later, the children of Brightside

Reclaiming Hamilton, The Book, Margaret Shkimba on the Unhappy City

The latest instalment of Hamilton's local history in book format is Reclaiming Hamilton published by local imprint Wolsak and Wynn Publishers. During the next few weeks, my daily personal blog posts will include my thoughts (some may call it a review) on the book chapters. Today, Chapter One "All Happy Cities Are Alike; Each Unhappy City Is Unhappy in Its

Slogans, Boosterism, and Being the City of Waterfalls

A slogan does not make for a great city, nor does a single dominant culture. Hamilton is best branded as the City of Waterfalls, no matter how much effort and money is put into creating other brands. Why the City of Waterfalls? It describes Hamilton best, the brand was created by a group of citizens to promote the over 100

Loving Your Hometown and the Hometowns Which Adopt You

"Thanks, your tourist dollars are appreciated", Dan Jelly says to me after I my purchase four Hamilton neighbourhood maps at Hamilton's Mixed Media shop. It is March 2, 2020 and I'm visiting Hamilton to give a lecture at McMaster University. For the 2019/20 academic year, I was a Fellow-at-Large of the University of Toronto and took up

Gary Hart: When US Journalism Stopped Ignoring Politician's Private Sexual Affairs

When should journalists report on the personal affairs of politicians? It is a good question to which the answer reveals much about the person responding and the state of the society they are living in. I came to age during the Clinton White House sex scandal, and observed how public opinion surrounding his abuse of power has shifted, especially since

Boxing Day Line-ups and Paper Flyers in the 1990s

Let's go back to the 1990s, specifically to the once great festival of shopping - Boxing Day. The big box store is not yet fully dominant, just-in-time efficient delivery with minimal on-hand stock is not yet dominant either. Now, I'm going to sound like an old man saying I walked to school uphill both ways. There were actually deals to