It’s a post-Conan world
I know that Conan O’Brien is a smart cookie and he’ll land on his feet. I also know he’ll be missed on The Tonight Show, around these parts. It’s back to Letterman/Kimmel/Lopez for the first round of late night TV.
I think my love of Carson Daly has also been noted.
For these reasons I may bounce over to Original Joe’s-Varisty Row (109 Street, north of Whyte Avenue) for the last Coco-Tonight Show. They’ll be showing it at the restaurant/bar and they’ve got specials on Red Ale and Coco Martinis (clever). Maybe I’ll see you there.
On a more serious note, there will be a march and rally in Old Strathcona tomorrow (when isn’t there?) as Canadians against Proroguing Parliament hit the streets. Let’s see if the Facebook protest transitions to the real world.
I bet this show won't be a "big wreck." (It's Monday at Union Hall.)
Edmonton’s Winter Light festival continues this weekend, with the Baba Yaga Trail Adventure.
Ice on Whyte also continues.
There are zombie-literary discussions happening Saturday afternoon (2-4pm, in the Edmonton Room) at the Stanley Milner Library. It’s about Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.
There are also ways to enjoy the party-scene of the weekend and help Haiti. Check this Metro-Edmonton story for details.
Dave Attell is at The Comic Strip this weekend.
You can take your tummy out to the second round of Fork Fest.
Maybe you’d rather try not to get trampled by brides looking for deals and other items for THEIR SPECIAL DAY. There’s an event for that.
Or you can attempt to keep your head from exploding due to an abundance of cuteness at the Edmonton Pet Expo. Aww…
The Edmonton Rush have their home opener Saturday, against the Buffalo Bandits. Hey, they’ve got more of a chance of winning than the Oilers. (Thanks for the reminder, Derjs.)
Whatever it is you do to make it to Monday, have fun.
Make your move!
This is probably the only time anyone will ever mention David Swann, Brian Mason AND Carson Daly in the same breath. And I’m going somewhere with it. (Probably.)
It’s their time to make a move.
Don't stare directly into his eyes! Or you'll fall in love.
With all the chatter about Jay and Conan (I’m with Coco, by the way), and the renewed interest in all late night talk shows, Carson Daly is getting zinged left and right. I bet he’s being talked about as much, or more, than in his TRL days. Make your move Carson. It’s time to capitalize on your current name-recoginition before NBC just dumps your show (or puts you on at 2am), and secure your retirement with a sweet deal somewhere else.
Now, for our Alberta politicians I’d also say it’s time to make a big move. Though, they don’t have near the current name-recognition of doe-eyed Carson.
With the governing Tories taking a beating from all sides, the Wildrose Alliance is striding up the right-side of the policical spectrum to one elected member and two crossover MLAs. Plus, they’re all over the news and sinking into the consciousness of Albertans.
Why isn't Rick Mercer hanging out with this guy at WEM?
So…it’s time for the centre-left guys to do something big. I know people have told you to join forces, I know people have told you to work together, or start a new party for progressives, and those who are socially liberal and fiscally conservative. I’m telling you this is your one real chance.
Hey, would you look at that. Someone has already gone out and started a party which is looking for enough signatures to become the real deal. If the NDP and Liberals could just suck up their egos for about a minute they might see that they aren’t being talked about at all these days.
At all.
Never surrender! Never win many seats!
And since they haven’t been able to do much with their current parties, and since Alberta feels like a two-party kind of parliamentary democracy, I think the only chance real centre-left, post-partisans have is something new.
Now is also the time because you’ve got a few years until the next election so you’ve got time for the Tories and Wildrose to split the partisan, socially conservative side of things even more, leaving a nice big swath of voters looking elsewhere. And maybe all this new action will get even more people out to vote.
Come on Carson, David and Brian, make a big move.
p.s. If you make a move to a new party, be sure to pay off your current party debts first.
Objectively Transparent Headlines
Some fall colours for you. Say, do you think I can eat THOSE berries?
Enjoy that sunshine, Edmonton.
It’s nice to see all that blue sky. Maybe we’ll get a taste of some lovely fall weather after all. Maybe…
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Last night was the Ward 7 candidates forum. That’s TonCat’s ward (Tony Caterina), and he’s facing four other people. The two main competitors are Brendan Van Alstine, who’s been campaigning since last year and is a recognized community volunteer, and Scott McKeen, the Edmonton Journal columnist.
Now, today’s Sun story says this: Ex-columnist taken to task for NIMBY column but I don’t think he’s an EX-columnist if he still works for the Journal. They may re-assign him if he loses the election but that’s not known at this point.
I think he should have quit before running. Or the Journal should have cut him loose.
Here’s why:
The Journal, like most newsrooms, stands firmly in the journalism camp of “Objectivity.” We, here at the edmontonian, don’t really think there’s much of that in news, and stand in the camp of “Transparency.”
But, because the Journal thinks its news coverage is objective it shouldn’t have a council candidate on staff. It’s for the same reason they don’t have regular columns from politicians and government staff.
(In a bit of cut-throat business, Postmedia is laying people off and offering buyouts, it’s the perfect opportunity to save some cash for the Journal.)
If they could just admit that choosing what gets covered, how much coverage it gets, who they talk to for quotes, how they lay out the paper, what stories they ignore, and a bunch more stuff actually makes their news coverage subjective they could keep McKeen on staff.
Instead, we have to look back at (at least) his last few columns and wonder if he was already thinking of running, or had been approached. It just makes the Journal look bad.
Now, I should note, I like McKeen as a candidate. He’s smart, funny, and seems to have a lot of the same urban values I want to see in my Edmonton. He and Van Alstine are fine choices for Ward 7. This is just about the journalism stuff. I have the same opinion for news folk jumping into PR or media relations without missing a beat, especially to work for government or politicians.
As for former Edmonton Sun columnist Kerry Diotte running in Ward 11, he hasn’t work at the paper for a year so I think he’s just fine and dandy.
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Let’s see what else is happening in the election today… (more…)
Sep 22, 2010 | Categories: NEWS | Tags: brendan van alstine, carson daly, comments, edmonton, election, forum, headlines, journal, kerry diotte, objectivity, scott mckeen, september 22, toncat, transparency, ward 7 | 6 Comments »