MasterMaq's Blog

Notes for 9/6/2010

Mack D. Male — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 05:41:48 +0000

Here are my weekly notes, from San Francisco!

Sharon and I are on vacation, until the middle of next week, here in San Francisco. So far the weather and everything else has been great, so let’s hope it stays that way! Not sure I’ll be writing about our trip every day, but I will upload pictures and stuff when I can.
Never thought of it that way. The Student Loan Scheme: gateway drug to debt slavery.
Apparently third party apps aren’t as important as everyone thought in the Twitter ecosystem.
Windows Phone 7 – Released to Manufacturing.
Another great piece by Arthur S. Brisbane, on the Age of Voices.

I know I’m a big geek but this cracks me up.

Chinatown in San Francisco.

Me in front of the cable car on Powell Street.

Edmonton Notes for 9/4/2010

Mack D. Male — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 20:34:42 +0000

Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

Take a few minutes and complete the City Market Downtown’s survey on a potential winter market!
The Toronto Star is reporting that Postmedia has cut a number of jobs across its daily newspapers, including up to 20 positions at the Edmonton Journal. In other local media news, longtime 630 CHED personality Gord Whitehead is retiring and did his last show this week.
Upcoming exhibitions at the Art Gallery of Alberta feature Burtynsky, Matisse, Gaugin, Münch, and Picasso, as well as new works by Albertan artist Laura St. Pierre. You can learn more about the fall lineup here.
Here’s a good catch-up post on the upcoming election.
ETS is gearing up for a busy fall season on the LRT – there could be over 100,000 riders per day. It also announced the completion of the Meadows Transit Centre on 17 Street at 40 Avenue. And a reminder: the LRT is not operating between Churchill and Clareview stations until Tuesday while ETS completes upgrades and maintenance.
The Edmonton Waste-to-Biofuels project is the world’s first industrial scale municipal waste-to-biofuels facility. Along with partner Enerkem, the City of Edmonton broke ground on the $80 million facility this week.
I really like the idea of more licensed buskers for Jasper Avenue, but the recommendation to extend the hours for bars to 4 a.m. seems misguided.
Ulf Ranhagen of Sweco, one of the finalists in the competition to redevelop the City Centre Airport lands, is excited about the project which he says will have a green focus.
The City is introducing a solar-electric pilot program with a total budget of $200,000 to issue rebates to home and business owners that install solar panels.
If you know someone between the ages of 7 and 18 which a love for film, encourage them to check out the Be Idle Free Video Contest! Here’s a great preview.
Interesting post in the ongoing debate over whether or not Oilers bloggers should be credentialed just like the mainstream media.
The University of Alberta has named Sangita Sharma to the new Chair of Aboriginal Health position. Also on the topic of the U of A, here’s a great profile of President Indira Samarasekera.
Doors open to 18 new schools in Calgary and Edmonton – news release and backgrounder is here.
Techvibes has launched localized news streams. You can see Edmonton’s here.
The Edmonton Police Service has successfully maintained its CALEA certification, something it has done ever since 1988. The program measures EPS against more than 450 international standards
A million dollar skateboard park is in the works for the Fulton Ravine near Capilano Mall.
For more headlines from the past week, check out theedmontonian.com.
Symphony Under the Sky started last night and runs through Monday.
Tonight in Churchill Square – Toy Story 3!
The 22nd annual T.A.L.E.S Storytelling Festival starts tomorrow at Fort Edmonton Park.
I think we should make next Sunday “walk day” here in Edmonton! There are at least four taking place that day.
ETS is hosting an open house on the West LRT extension on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings.
Country Music Week Edmonton kicks off on Thursday with the big awards show taking place on Sunday.
The Calgary Stampeders are in Edmonton next Friday for the second half of the Labour Day Classic.
On Saturday, The Handmade Mafia returns to Orange Hall!
The Kaleido Family Arts Festival starts on Friday evening and runs all weekend on Alberta Avenue. Don’t miss it!

Edmonton’s bid for Expo 2017 was on display in Shanghai this week. Here’s the new video:

The City Market featured a petting zoo today!

I’ve started noticing more and more signs and billboards around town for the election, like this one for Mayor Mandel who is hoping to win a third term.

State of the Calgary Twittersphere – July 2010

Mack D. Male — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 16:00:00 +0000

Welcome to the seventh State of the Calgary Twittersphere of 2010, my look at the intersection of Twitter and Calgary, AB. You can see last month’s stats here.

For information on the data, definitions, and other background, click here.

For July 2010:

# of local users: 10501 (a decrease of 125 from June)
# of tweets by local users: 501941
# of tweets by local users containing #yyc: 22956 (4.6%)
# of tweets by local users that were replies: 153421 (30.6%)
# of tweets by local users containing links: 148567 (29.6%)
# of tweets by local users that were retweets: 21291 (4.2%)
# of tweets by local users that were twooshes: 16440 (3.3%)

Here are the numbers above in graphic form:

Here are the top clients used by local users for posting updates:

Some other interesting stats for the month:

Just over 50% of all local tweets were posted between 9 AM and 5 PM.
Local users posted roughly 11.3 tweets per minute in July (compared to 11.7 tweets per minute in June).
The day with the most local tweets posted was July 30 at 19863. On average, 16821 local tweets were posted each day (compared to 16821 in June).
Of the 153421 replies posted by local users this month, 47364 or 30.9% were to other local users.
A total of 1960 users posted 50 times or more in July. In comparison, 1587 users posted just once.

Here are the top ten most followed local users:

Here are the top ten most listed local users:

Here are the top ten most active local users (not including bots):

Here are the top ten most active local users using #yyc (not including bots):

Here are the top ten most replied to local users:

Here are the top ten most retweeted local users (by other local users):

Final Thoughts

A small decrease in users in July, maybe because everyone was outside doing things! No surprise that the Calgary Stampede was among the most retweeted for the month. Chinook Centre celebrated its 50th birthday on August 1, and made a big push for followers during the month of July which likely explains why it was retweeted so much. With the Calgary election heating up, it’s interesting to see that mayoral candidate Naheed Nenshi was the 6th most retweeted user. I wonder if we’ll see more election-related stats as October 18 draws near.

Exploring Apps4Edmonton using Microsoft Live Labs Pivot

Mack D. Male — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 16:00:00 +0000

You’re going to hear a lot more about apps over the next few weeks! The deadline for submissions for the City of Edmonton’s Apps4Edmonton competition was Friday evening. Local developers came up with more than 30 really interesting and useful local apps, which will now compete for your votes and for the attention of the judges. You can learn more about the prizes and the competition here.

I started looking at some of the apps, and decided I wanted a better interface to browse them. I thought it would be nice to be able to sort the apps, to see a screenshot of each one, and to see which datasets each of the apps made use of. I also didn’t want to spend too much time on it, so with all of that in mind, this seemed like the perfect opportunity to experiment with Pivot.

Here’s what I came up with! Click on the image below to load the Apps4Edmonton Apps Directory in Pivot. You’ll need Silverlight 4 installed for it to work. Alternatively, if you have downloaded Pivot and have it installed on your computer, you can browse to this URL inside Pivot.

Click here to launch the Pivot!

Might take a minute or two to load. If it doesn’t, just refresh it. What you see are all the apps from the contest page, with a screenshot, description, contest URL, and list of datasets for each one. If you want to see just the apps that use the “Police Stations” dataset for example, you can select it in the navigation pane on the left and the view will update.

Ever since TechEd, I’ve been really interested in Microsoft Live Labs Pivot, an interactive data visualization technology. It’s great for exploring large datasets, identifying relationships, visualizing patterns, etc. The Apps4Edmonton dataset isn’t very large of course, but the tool still does a great job.

How It Works

I started out by building a Pivot Collection using Microsoft Excel. Pivot has a pretty handy tool for turning spreadsheets into collections, so that’s what I used initially. Quickly though I realized that I wanted to host this on the web somewhere, and that I wanted others to help me refine the dataset.

I uploaded the spreadsheet to Google Docs, and then downloaded the Just In Time Pivot Collection sample. After a little bit of experimentation with the Google Docs API (which I have never used before) I had the code working to create my collection on the fly. It loads the spreadsheet from Google Docs, creates the collection, and then serves up the XML and Deep Zoom images.

The spreadsheet is mostly complete, but a few apps are missing datasets. This is because either it wasn’t immediately obvious which they were using, or they simply don’t use any that are part of the data catalogue. You can update the spreadsheet here.

If you’d like to experiment with creating your own just-in-time Pivot Collection, you can download the sample code here and the code for the collection I wrote here. I also made use of CutyCapt to generate screenshots. You’ll also want to check the XML schema.

Apps4Edmonton

There are some really great apps in the Apps4Edmonton competition, so check them out. You’ve got until September 10 to vote for your favorite ideas and apps!

And for full disclosure, I submitted ShareEdmonton to the competition. If you like it, vote for it!

UPDATE: Thanks to John for helping me get the Pivot Collection right!

Notes for 8/29/2010

Mack D. Male — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 05:11:50 +0000

Here are my weekly notes:

Really interesting introductory piece by Arthur Brisbane, the new Public Editor of the New York Times.
In case you haven’t seen it yet, take some time, and read this New Yorker article on the Koch brothers, “the billionaire brothers who are waging a war against Obama.”
I would say the Netscape offices are a pretty important piece of Silicon Valley’s history, which is why I was surprised to read that AOL is moving out.
Headline says it all: It’s 2010 and Canadians pay the highest cell phone bills in the world.
For the geeks reading this: Vampires (programmers) versus Werewolves (sysadmins).
Do you ever talk on the phone anymore? I rarely do. I much prefer text, email, or some other form of communication. That’s why I think it’s so interesting that cell phones, which make it possible to talk anywhere, are the devices that are killing voice.
One of my favorite links of the week: Information Overload in the 17th Century.

I guess there is such a thing as a money tree! And it can be yours at Superstore for just $12.99!

Edmonton Notes for 8/28/2010

Mack D. Male — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 01:07:22 +0000

It’s the last weekend of August, and it certainly feels like it with the very cool wind. Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

The deadline for the City’s Apps4Edmonton competition was last night at midnight. Roughly 84 ideas and 323 apps were submitted at last count. Check them out!
Envision Edmonton delivered boxes of signed petitions to City Hall on Thursday (you can see it on YouTube here). The group claims to have gathered more than 90,000 signatures. Verification will happen over the next couple of weeks, and is expected to cost about $100,000.
In other ECCA news, closing the airport could save the City up to $200 million when it builds the northwest LRT line. One of the finalists in the design competition, BNIM Architects, called the redevelopment a “stunning opportunity for North America.” The final environmental report is expected to arrive late next week, but so far the amount of contamination is being described as “very minor”. Former City Councillors Michael Phair and Patricia Mackenzie applauded Council’s decision to redevelop the airport lands.
Homeward Trust received more than $12.9 million from the federal government this week, part of the Government of Canada’s Homelessness Partnering Strategy.
By the end of September, the 23 Avenue interchange will be completely accessible to traffic.
Earlier in the week, everybody seemed to be talking about the dinosaur bones that were found during excavation at the Quesnell bridge project.
Fifteen Edmonton communities are scheduled to get new sidewalks and roads over the next five years.
Here’s a nice write-up of the downtown survey at iheartedmonton.com.
The City of Edmonton and the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 569 DATS reached an agreement this week that provides a 4.5% general wage increase for 2010.
Stantec shows no signs of slowing down, acquiring San Francisco-based Anshen + Allen this week.
With the school season approaching, the City is reminding you to brush up on bike safety!
The Edmonton Police Service raised $41,854.86 for Special Olympics with its Free the Fuzz fundraiser at Walmart.
Private developers won’t be forced to pay for public art after a proposal was killed at Executive Committee this week.
Jack Michaels will be the voice of the Edmonton Oilers this season on 630 CHED.
The Oilers aren’t the only pro sports team in Edmonton looking for a new home – FC Edmonton wants a new stadium.
Local NAIT grad Corbin Tomaszeski will be the chef to impress on Food Network’s new reality show Dinner Party Wards
Edmontonians magazine, which shut down in June, is being brought back to life by the controversial Cedar Publishing Corporation.
Sharon wrote about the North Edge Outdoor Night Market. Hope to see more of this on 107 Avenue!
For more headlines from the past week, check out theedmontonian.com.
Fort Edmonton Park’s 37th annual Harvest Fair takes place tomorrow!
Also tomorrow is the grand opening of the Jackie Parker Recreation Area. It is 3-4 times the size of a normal neighbourhood park.
East Meets West wraps up tomorrow in Little Italy with the Viva Italia Via Edmonton festival.
Movies on the Square is back on Friday with How To Train Your Dragon. On Saturday they’re showing Toy Story 3.
Also on Saturday is Sonic Boom 2010.
Symphony Under the Sky kicks off on Friday evening!

It was another wild week of weather here in Edmonton. Dark clouds!

Edmonton Opera had a “flashmob” at the City Market today.

Here’s a taste of the North Edge Outdoor Nite Market…from the hay ride!

State of the Calgary Twittersphere – June 2010

Mack D. Male — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 17:30:00 +0000

Welcome to the sixth State of the Calgary Twittersphere of 2010, my look at the intersection of Twitter and Calgary, AB. You can see last month’s stats here.

For information on the data, definitions, and other background, click here.

For June 2010:

# of local users: 10626 (an increase of 79 from May)
# of tweets by local users: 504633
# of tweets by local users containing #yyc: 22382 (4.4%)
# of tweets by local users that were replies: 156128 (30.9%)
# of tweets by local users containing links: 148101 (29.3%)
# of tweets by local users that were retweets: 22445 (4.4%)
# of tweets by local users that were twooshes: 17296 (3.4%)

Here are the numbers above in graphic form:

Here are the top clients used by local users for posting updates:

Some other interesting stats for the month:

Just under 50% of all local tweets were posted between 9 AM and 5 PM.
Local users posted roughly 11.7 tweets per minute in June (compared to 11.4 tweets per minute in May).
The day with the most local tweets posted was June 17 at 20079. On average, 16821 local tweets were posted each day (compared to 16355 in May).
Of the 156128 replies posted by local users this month, 49139 or 31.5% were to other local users.
A total of 1978 users posted 50 times or more in June. In comparison, 1600 users posted just once.

Here are the top ten most active local users (not including bots):

Here are the top ten most active local users using #yyc (not including bots):

Here are the top ten most replied to local users:

Here are the top ten most retweeted local users (by other local users):

Final Thoughts

First off, my apologies to those of you who have been waiting for a stats update! I’ve been a little behind this summer.

There was a slight increase in the number of users in June, and a slight decrease in the number of tweets posted. I think that decrease is due to two things: one less day than in May, and the large amount of downtime that Twitter experienced in June (it was their worst month since August 2009).

State of the Edmonton Twittersphere – July 2010

Mack D. Male — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 16:00:00 +0000

Welcome to the seventh State of the Edmonton Twittersphere of 2010, my look at the intersection of Twitter and Edmonton, AB. You can see last month’s stats here.

For information on the data, definitions, and other background, click here.

For July 2010:

# of local users: 8227 (an increase of 49 from June)
# of tweets by local users: 446078
# of tweets by local users containing #yeg: 32290 (7.2%)
# of tweets by local users that were replies: 155793 (34.9%)
# of tweets by local users containing links: 121874 (27.3%)
# of tweets by local users that were retweets: 19864 (4.5%)
# of tweets by local users that were twooshes: 15646 (3.5%)

Here are the numbers above in graphic form:

Here are the top clients used by local users for posting updates – UberTwitter and Twitter for iPhone continue to duke it out.

Some other interesting stats for the month:

Just over 51% of all local tweets were posted between 9 AM and 5 PM.
Local users posted roughly 10.0 tweets per minute in July (compared to 9.8 tweets per minute in June).
The day with the most local tweets posted was July 30 at 19129. On average, 14390 local tweets were posted each day (compared to 14068 in June).
Of the 155793 replies posted by local users this month, 61444 or 39.4% were to other local users.
A total of 1658 users posted 50 times or more in July. In comparison, 1164 users posted just once.

Here are the top ten most followed local users:

Here are the top ten most listed local users:

Here are the top ten most active local users (not including bots):

Here are the top ten most active local users using #yeg (not including bots):

Here are the top ten most replied to local users:

Here are the top ten most retweeted local users (by other local users):

Final Thoughts

Even though July is one of the busiest months of the year here in Edmonton, local Twitter users were still pretty active! Not many new accounts, but there was a noticeable jump in the number of updates posted. The busiest day of the month, July 30, was the last Friday of Capital EX and Taste of Edmonton, and was also the day the Eskimos snapped a four-game losing streak to win their first game of the regular season.

Notes for 8/23/2010

Mack D. Male — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 05:58:56 +0000

Here are my weekly notes:

I’ve been really busy with work lately. Among other things, I’ve been exploring/using: sitemaps.org, html5boilerplate.com, TFS 2010.
If you believe the stats, the 5 billionth device will plug into the Internet sometime this month. IPv6 anyone?
Facebook apparently isn’t happy about the new movie The Social Network. Which only makes me more interested to actually see it.
Speaking of Facebook, they finally launched Places.
Three firms own 89% of your sugar water.
That visualization comes from David McCandless, who writes the amazing Information is Beautiful site. You can watch his TED Talk here.

Had a great time tonight at the birthday party for the edmontonian and The Unknown Studio! If you’re not already a regular reader/listener, you should be!

@bingofuel and @journalistjeff blowing out the candles on a lovely cake made by @frostedbetty!

Edmonton Notes for 8/22/2010

Mack D. Male — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 19:48:19 +0000

Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

It was a smoky week here in Edmonton, as we felt the effects of forest fires in BC. Air quality was listed as poor until Friday, when it started to improve. You can see smoke forecasts for BC and Alberta here.
Edmonton Airports released updated briefing notes on the City Centre Airport this week. CBC found closing the airport is likely to be a financial boon. The Journal pointed out some of the inaccuracies with Envision Edmonton’s views on medevac, and found that the group’s list of donors will remain private. Over at the City, officials continued to prepare to receive the signatures. Scott McKeen wrote about how public debate should not be a mudslinging free-for-all.
Alex has a nice roundup of the local election races.
Some love for the Edmonton tech scene this week! Local startup Beamdog was also profiled.
The number of commercial properties sold in Edmonton in the first half of 2010 was 161, worth $754 million. That’s up from 120 worth $547 million in the first half of 2009.
Where is Edmonton going? Interesting column in the Examiner.
Congrats to the Edmonton Capitals who won their third straight game last night over the Calgary Vipers.
According to CBC, the neighbourhood crime maps that the Edmonton Police Service makes available are intentionally incorrect. Just another reason why the crime maps are not open data.
Sadly, it seems as though Bistro Praha will not be reopening in the near future.
More money is flowing into Edmonton for nanontechnology research from the federal government.
Community leagues want to sell ad space inside the boards of outdoor hockey rinks.
For completeness: there was a bit of controversy in the local theatre scene this week.
For more headlines from the past week, check out theedmontonian.com.
The Fringe wraps up today! There are some holdovers, though.
Saskatchewan is in town on Saturday night to take on the troubled Edmonton Eskimos.
Maybe Saturday should be football day in Edmonton! Miami FC will also be in town, to take on FC Edmonton.
The North Edge Business Community is hosting an Outdoor Nite Market on Friday.
Don’t forget there are great activities happening for lunch all week at Churchill Square.

Here’s the smoke as it appeared downtown on Thursday afternoon.

The Treasury had its grand opening on Thursday evening. Signs for the new bar & eatery first appeared over a year ago.

Recap: artsScene Edmonton’s Summer Party + Behind the Scenes at the Fairmont Hotel Macdonald

Mack D. Male — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 05:12:38 +0000

artsScene Edmonton’s latest sold out event took place tonight at the historic Fairmont Hotel Macdonald. The Summer Patio Party + Behind the Scenes was another great opportunity to catch up with old friends and to meet some new ones too! Here’s what the event was all about:

Steeped in history, The Fairmont Hotel Macdonald opened its doors in 1915 and has continued to be the centre of Edmonton’s social life. Join fellow young professionals (ages 18-40) and discover the building’s history and architecture, combined with a summer patio party with DJs, drinks and more overlooking the city’s river valley. It’ll be an artsScene Behind the Scenes event like no other!

Tonight’s event was a unique chance to learn more about Hotel Mac, as it is known here in Edmonton. The smoke outside meant that most people stayed indoors, but everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, and a few of us ventured onto the patio anyway.

Here are some highlights from the tour:

This is the Empire Ballroom, which is where the famous Sunday brunch takes place. During World War II, the space was used to make jeans!

This is the Drawing Room, which used to be for ladies only. It even featured a separate entrance (which now serves only as an emergency exit).

Right next door is the Jasper Room, which was for men. The most striking feature are the windows, which are seem too close to the floor – they’re level when you’re seated.

Apparently this mural was “photoshopped” – it features John A. Macdonald at the centre, but not everyone pictured was actually there.

The staircase was my favorite part of the tour. Marble steps and some incredible views on the way down.

We also got to see one of the rooms on the 8th floor. The one we saw was two levels, and goes for about $1000 per night. Apparently the one Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie stayed in is much larger and is more like $3000 per night!

After the tour we checked out the patio, which tonight offered a clear view of the smoke:

Tonight’s event also featured music from the Jerrold Dubyk Trio, Mindy Cooper (DJ Sweetz), and a really intriguing art project called “Angles of Love” by Sarah Jackson. You can see the rest of my photos here.

If you haven’t checked out an artsScene event yet, what are you waiting for? Stay tuned to their blog and Twitter for updates. See you at the next one!

Why Edmonton’s Teatro La Quindicina and actor Jeff Haslam will never get my business again

Mack D. Male — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 04:10:33 +0000

With one exception, Sharon and I had a great time at the 29th Edmonton International Fringe Festival this past weekend. Unfortunately, all that sticks out in our minds is that exception. Before I explain, a little background.

Sharon is the person who introduced me to live theatre in Edmonton. Though the first show she took me to wasn’t a Teatro la Quindicina production, it wasn’t long before we were regularly attending their shows. I don’t write about theatre as much as Sharon does, but I do mention it from time to time, such as when we went to see The Talking Turk back in March 2005. Over the years I have come to really enjoy local theatre, and Teatro in particular. I wrote my Edmonton Story about local theatre, and specifically mentioned the company. In fact, Sharon and I found that we were going to so many of Teatro’s shows that we subscribed to the 2009 season, and did so again this year. We thought it was a great way to support the company.

Though she probably started watching Teatro productions in high school, Sharon only started blogging in 2006, so her first related entry was about Eros and the Itchy Ant in November 2006. Since then, she has written about nearly every local production we’ve ever been to, including at least twelve Teatro shows. She says it better than I can:

The best thing about a personal blog, of course, is that I don’t have to limit my content. I do still enjoy commenting about the arts scene, and in particular, the wonderful plays staged by the theatre community. And so, despite the proliferation of food-centric posts, I will continue to think of myself as a blogger who simply happens to write often about food.

Without a doubt, one of our favorite local actors has been Jeff Haslam. A Teatro regular, Jeff took over as the company’s Artistic Director in 2009. Neither Sharon nor I have been shy about calling him our favorite, and one of the reasons we decided to see Edmonton Opera’s H.M.S. Pinafore was because Jeff was in it. Sharon actually reached out to him in November last year to help with her post on Shop Local Month (he did).

All of this made what happened on the weekend even more disappointing, inappropriate, and hurtful.

It started on Saturday while we were in between shows at the Fringe. Sharon was checking her email on her phone, and discovered a comment from Jeff Haslam on her recent post about Teatro’s The Ambassador’s Wives. We were both shocked after we read it:

You come across as snotty and arrogant. I absolutely despise your pretension that you are “a reviewer” in any professional way. In fact every time I read one of your posts I think “I am not smitten with this weird women like her icky friends seem to be. I wish she’d stop subscribing to my theatre company, because she seems like such a pretentious doof. I wonder if she knows that her endlessly stuck-up self-important little reviews are deeply offensive to those of us who bust our buts for next to nothing to bring a little entertainment to this distant northern city? I wonder if she knows that her crappy 19 bucks goes to less than 40% of what it costs to pay all the artists she isn’t always smitten by? Do us all a favour lady. Write about food and take your entertainment dollar elsewhere.
Sincerely
Jeff Haslam

Had our favorite local actor really written that? Needless to say, Sharon was pretty disturbed by the comment. I refused to believe it was actually from Jeff Haslam (though the email and IP address didn’t suggest anything to the contrary). So because we were friends on Facebook, I sent him a message to make sure the comment was actually from him:

Did you actually leave a comment on the Only Here for the Food blog’s review of The Ambassador’s Wives?

Instead of the “no way” I was hoping for, so that we could take the comment down, I received this reply:

Yes. Yes I did. Sorry if I insulted you and Sharon, but you cannot BEGIN to imagine how offended I am, and we all are are, by Sharon’s "reviews". You people are not, I’m sorry to say, invisible. The Internet stretches far and wide. I do not need or want your money, especially if you have the GALL to review us so sarcastically and with such bile. Your review of our work on Dial M was particularly sickening. Actually there isn’t a single thing that Sharon has written that hasn’t made me wonder why you people even go to my shows at all. I’d prefer you never darken our door again. Sincerely, Jeff Haslam

I received that reply just as we were getting ready to line-up for Die-Nasty. Knowing that Jeff was in it, we decided to go home instead, still confused and upset by his comments. When we got home, I went on Facebook to reply, only to find that I could no longer see Jeff’s account. Evidently he had blocked me. So I emailed him instead, asking for clarification and offering to meet for coffee to chat about his issues. Today he replied, calling us “Internet bullies.”

Jeff’s comments are inexcusable, to say the least. Sharon and I have talked it over so many times this weekend, and we still can’t make sense of it. She has never written anything that could be described as “sickening”. What could possibly have compelled Jeff to write what he did?

Our first question was why he chose to share his thoughts publicly? Why leave a comment on Sharon’s blog instead of emailing her directly? Even though I think Jeff’s comments on Sharon’s reviews are completely unfounded, they’d have been better shared privately first.

While there are many differences between a theatre company and, for example, a clothing store, both are businesses when you get right down to it. Both rely on delivering a product to customers. And if you want those customers to return, you need to treat them well. There’s a reason everyone has heard the phrase “the customer is always right.” From a business perspective, what Jeff said is unfathomable: “take your entertainment dollar elsewhere” and “never darken our door again.” In what world does that make any business sense? And why did he decide to say this now, after happily accepting our money as subscribers for the last two years? It certainly sounds like Jeff has been reading our posts for quite some time.

For some reason, Jeff is really offended by what we’ve written in the past. Here are some of the specific posts he mentioned in his email reply: On the Banks of the Nut, East of My Usual Brain, The Big Kahuna: Day 2, H.M.S. Pinafore. As I said, I don’t think anything we’ve written has been unfair or overly negative (quite the opposite actually). Read the posts for yourself and tell me if you’re disgusted. You’d think that someone like Jeff, who has been in theatre for so long, would have thicker skin. You can’t please everyone, after all. On the other hand, it seems as though Edmonton’s most visible theatre writer, Liz Nicholls of the Edmonton Journal, has never written anything negative about Jeff or Teatro (seriously, look it up – you can search The Journal’s archives here if you have a library card). Maybe he’s gotten used to that. Here’s what Liz wrote in a 1998 profile of Jeff:

“Audiences at every theatre in town know the Lethbridge-born 34- year-old for his smart, stylish, inspired performances in Lemoine’s comedies, in Citadel musicals like Hello Dolly! and Lady Be Good, in new Canadian plays, in classics. There’s a certain panache la Cary Grant or Warren Beatty about Haslam onstage in a romantic comedy.”

In her review of Dial ‘M’ for Murder, Liz said of Jeff: “Haslam positively cavorts through the intricate footwork of the role…it’s a juicy performance.” She called the production “a marvellous night of theatre.” Sharon (and I) felt somewhat differently. It seems only natural that some people will enjoy a show while others will not.

Theatre, like food, is subjective. You can come up with checklists and guidelines and look for techniques and planning and passion, but none of it really matters. The result will be interpreted differently by different people. Here’s a recent food example. There’s a well-known restaurant in Paris called L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon. It has two Michelin stars. In one recent review, a blogger described it as “a totally stunning meal.” In a different review, it was described as “very disappointing.” It’s all about personal opinion.

If Jeff wrote what he did because he feels that Sharon’s reviews as a blogger are somehow less important or relevant than Liz’s reviews as a writer for the paper, he’s in for a rude awakening. It’s 2010, and everyone has the ability to easily publish online. Everyone can share their opinion, and increasingly people turn to the thoughts of other people like them, who paid full price and got the typical experience, rather than the “professional” reviewer who got it for free and likely has an existing relationship with the restaurant or theatre company or whatever it is that they’re reviewing. That’s why sites like RottenTomatoes, TripAdvisor, Yelp, Epinions, blogs, and heck even Twitter, have become such popular destinations for people looking for reviews.

If Sharon’s reviews have done anything, I think they’ve increased awareness about Teatro and its cast members. If you search for Teatro la Quindicina for example, Sharon comes up third. Searches for “Mark Meer” and other Teatro stars regularly appear in her incoming search keywords. People increasingly turn to the web when they want more information about something, and for Edmontonians looking for more on Teatro, Sharon’s blog has been an important destination.

That’ll change after this, no doubt. You can bet that we’ll never give our money to Jeff Haslam or any production he’s involved in ever again, even if that means we miss out some otherwise great theatre. Given that this is how he treats his customers (fans even) I would encourage you to also think twice before you part with your money. When he says he wants you there, he clearly doesn’t mean it, especially not if you’re planning to write about it. We’re saddened and hurt by this turn of events.

So Jeff, while you can take comfort in the fact that we won’t be writing about your shows anymore, sooner or later you’re going to have to wake up to the reality that others will.

You can read Sharon’s post about this here.

UPDATE: Apparently SEE Magazine was banned from attending Stewart Lemoine plays about two years ago. Thanks to Sally for the link.

UPDATE2: Brittney over at iNews880 interviewed Jeff for his side of the story today.

UPDATE3: I’m rather surprised at how many people have written about this. Here’s an article in the Globe and Mail, and here’s Todd’s piece in the Edmonton Journal.

UPDATE (August 26, 2010): Sharon and I received a handwritten apology from Jeff Haslam in the mail today, along with a signed copy of Stewart Lemoine’s At the Zenith of the Empire and a refund for the unused portion of our season subscriptions.

Notes for 8/16/2010

Mack D. Male — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 05:56:38 +0000

Here are my weekly notes:

I use jQuery every day, and I’m a big fan. So I’m really happy to see the jQuery Mobile Project.
Every time you type on Windows Phone 7, it plays a subtly different sound. Now that’s attention to detail.
Here are some great thoughts from Miguel de Icaza on the big tech story of the week: Oracle suing Google over Java.
I’ll admit that I’m a fan of The Economist. It’s one of the magazines I typically pick up before hopping on a plane. The New York Times has an interesting piece on the brand and its marketing.
Can you believe we’re already halfway through August? The summer has just flown by.
I’m loving the Fringe so far! Kory has a great review aggregator here.

Buskers are all over the grounds. Would be better if they weren’t right in the middle of thoroughfares though.

Clean and organized! And green!

The main busker stage.

Edmonton Notes for 8/14/2010

Mack D. Male — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 18:37:08 +0000

Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

It may not be illegal, but it’s certainly unethical as far as I’m concerned: Envision Edmonton is paying “volunteers” to collect names for its petition. It shifts the reason for signing from supporting the campaign to supporting a worthy cause, like a community league. Oh, and to City Council, don’t be bullied into thinking you need to support a plebiscite in order to support democracy. That’s just ridiculous.
Congratulations to local startup Empire Avenue on the big news: they’ve raised $200,000 in funding from a group of angel investors, including Boris Wertz, whose other local investments include Nexopia.
Some election news this week: there’s confusion over the new provincial rules regarding the campaign contributions, and on Tuesday about 40 City employees took part in an election dry run.
The Edmonton International Airport announced this week that a new 189-room Courtyard by Marriott hotel will open in the fall of 2012 at the northeast end of the airport.
Groupon, the website that features a daily deal, is now available in Edmonton.
Is an urban planning school coming to the University of Alberta? Apparently the U of A is the only major university in Canada without a planning school.
The Communitas Group received a $481,000 federal grant this week to build an “eco-minded affordable-housing” project at 129th Avenue and Fort Road.
Here’s a puff piece by Gary Lamphier on TEC Edmonton.
Apparently the economy is taking a toll on local hotels, with occupancy rates dropping more than 6% since last year. The Crowne Plaza Chateau Lacombe was sold for $47.8 million this week.
Fringe Theatre Festival fans can now find the best shows on their phone in seconds, thanks to a prize-winning entry in the City’s Apps4Edmonton competition.
The Edmonton Journal’s two Capital Notebook writers are heading back to school!
Happy 40th Birthday to Southgate Mall!
For more headlines from the past week, check out theedmontonian.com.
FC Edmonton, which handily defeated the Victoria Highlanders 7-1 on Wednesday, is hosting the Spokane Spiders on Sunday at Foote Field.
Looking for something to do for lunch on Monday? Check out Live at Lunch at Churchill Square.
The Fringe, which started on Thursday, runs through August 22nd. Don’t miss it!
I’m really looking forward to artsScene’s Summer Patio Party & Behind-the-Scenes at the Fairmont Hotel Macdonald on Thursday!
The annual Edmonton Dragon Boat Festival starts on Friday at Louise McKinney Riverfront Park.
Next Saturday marks the 81st Run for the Daisies! The Canadian Derby runs at Northlands Park all day, with coverage on TSN starting at 3pm.

Another busy day at the City Market Downtown! Sharon’s 14th market report of the season is here.

Behind the scenes at Breakfast Television in Edmonton!

Mack D. Male — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 13:04:26 +0000

A couple of weeks ago, Ryan Jespersen invited me to join him on BT Edmonton for a segment on blogs in Edmonton. The idea for that segment quickly turned into live-blogging the entire show, which I thought would be a fun opportunity!

So this is my post about my experience on Breakfast Television in Edmonton. I’ll be updating it throughout the morning (at the bottom). I’m also live-tweeting, of course.

To the right, you can see my “blogging desk” on set. Cool huh? In addition to checking out all the other guests this morning, I’ve got full access to check out the set, control room, etc. And I’m doing two segments on blogging: one at about 7:20am, talking about the business side of blogging, and one at 8:40am, talking about some of my favorite local blogs that you should be following!

Behind the camera!

For my first segment on the show, we talked about blogging, how I use it, and why businesses might want to get into it. Some of the things we covered:

Blogs are the stars of social media! A blog can be a great hub for all of your online activity, much like how I have mine setup with the buttons at the top.
It’s important to post consistently. Doesn’t have be every day, but it should be a consistent schedule, so that you know when to post and readers know when to expect something new!
Always turn on comments. Give people an opportunity to respond, and your blog will become much more valuable.
A good place to get started: WordPress.

The next segment will cover some of my favorite local blogs!

The Control Room at Citytv. These are the folks that make sure everything is running smoothly!

Ryan and Victoria’s Secret Angel Candice Swanepoel on set. The studio filled with people to get a glimpse of the supermodel!

Ryan outside, discussing Miracle Treat Day. Proceeds from any Blizzards sold at Dairy Queen locations in Edmonton today go toward the Stollery Children’s Hospital!

During my second segment on the show, Ryan asked me about five of my favorite local blogs. It was a difficult question to answer, even though I obviously had some time to prepare for it. In the end, I decided to give them a longer list, and together with the producers we narrowed it down to five that made it on air. Here are some of my favorite local blogs (the first five are the ones that appeared on the show):

Only Here for the Food – everything you need to know about local food!
Arts on the Ave – great example of a community blog
the edmontonian – all your local news and events information!
Oilers Nation – one of many blogs that are part of the oilogosphere
Gluten Free Edmonton – great example of a niche blog
I Heart Edmonton – great local features and events information
Daveberta – your source for politics!
Transcend Coffee – great example of a business/organization blog
Transforming Edmonton – the City’s official blog

I read a lot more blogs than these obviously, but I check all of those pretty regularly (using Google Reader). Enjoy!

The on-air personalities getting ready to close out the show!

BT Edmonton ends today with a performance by Carolyn Dawn Johnson.

It was a fun (and early) morning for me. It’s always interesting to get a peek behind the curtain, to see how a live show like BT Edmonton works. A few other thoughts on the experience:

There was a little bit of chaos in the studio at times, but not as much as I was expecting actually! It seems like a well-oiled machine. I thought it was interesting that they had a schedule with times down to the second. Obviously they deviate from it a little depending on how long people talk, but they stayed amazingly close to the plan.
The camera guys are so important. They setup the shots, and make everyone on screen look good. They’re the ones who run the studio on the ground (I guess you could say the control room runs it “from above”).
The control room was, as expected, pretty cool. Love the screens all over the place.
I thought the 3 hours would go by slowly, but before I knew it, we were done!

You can see the rest of my photos here. You can watch both of my segments here.

Thanks to Ryan and the entire BT Edmonton team for the opportunity!