About Me

Photos | Writing

Search | Home





 

My move to New York

About a year ago, I wrote an Op-Ed in which I essentially said I couldn't imagine wanting to move to New York City. And now I find myself writing a blog entry from a Manhattan cafe, just days after making the move to America's biggest city.

I thought I would write some long-winded entry about all the emotions behind this unexpected move -- as I've done after other past relocations -- but the truth is this wasn't an emotional move. It was probably the most level-headed decision I've made lately. I have been afforded a job opportunity in New York that really changes the trajectory of my career in a positive way. So the day I left Boston, a city I love, I wasn't sad. Instead, I felt glad for the chance to have lived in such a great city, and for being given a chance to live in another.



Posted by Sebastian / New York / January 31, 2006 /
 

Overheard in New York

I haven't overheard any hilarious conversations on the street or on the subway just yet, but an addictive archive of submissions exists over at Overheard in New York.

There's even a book that has been created from the site's hilarious entries.

Posted by Sebastian / New York / January 30, 2006 /
 

Hello New York!

Many of you know by now that I have moved to New York City. For those of you who didn't know: I've moved to New York City. More on this later...



Posted by Sebastian / New York / January 29, 2006 /
 

Ambassador to U.S. quits
 
From the moment Prime Minister Paul Martin announced his plans yesterday to resign as Liberal Party leader, the wires were filled with speculation about who would replace him. Rumours swirled about all the usual suspects, but the day came and went without a peep from Frank McKenna, the Ambassador to the U.S., who has long been seen as the most likely replacement.

McKenna really had us believing that he was going to stay put in Washington if only Stephen Harper would keep him there into the new administration. But we were fooled! Today the good ambassador resigned without citing any specific reason, further fueling speculation that he is going to run for leadership of the Liberal Party.

The implication of his resignation: George Bush needn't worry about having his government called 'dysfunctional' anymore. Well, at least not until Frank McKenna tries to become prime minster in six months.

Posted by Sebastian / Canada / Election / January 25, 2006 /
 

Mr. Harper Goes to Ottawa
 
I just love this photo, which was on Page One of the Globe and Mail today. And there happens to be a good story from the New York Times to go along with it, as well.



Posted by Sebastian / Election 2006 / January 25, 2006 /
 

It will be OK! We can have another election in six months!
 
I have received a few emails from people wondering why I haven't mentioned much about Monday's Canadian election. I had to take 36 hours to recover from the news that Stephen Harper will be the next prime minister (well, admittedly, I was having a busy day and just couldn't get to it).

A few basic facts about the election for the confused masses: the Conservative Party won the largest number of seats in the House of Commons (124 vs. 103 for the Liberals), but they did not win a majority of the seats. Because they will be a minority government, any legislation they would like to pass would require an alliance with another party. But there are no natural alliances among the opposition parties: the Liberals, the New Democrats, and the Bloc Quebecois.

My prediction is that the Conservative-led government elected on Monday will collapse in six months, the earliest date that another election can be called.

Earlier this week, Paul Martin said of Stephen Harper and his Conservatives: "Never have we seen a major political party with such a conservative agenda as this one, an agenda really drawn from the extreme right in the United States." A letter-writer in the Toronto Star seemed to agree:"I now can fully empathize with Americans who did not vote for Bush. I am truly mortified that Stephen Harper will be our prime minister."

Certainly one of the most interesting angles on this election is the ascent of Western Canada politically. There have been few prime ministers from outside Quebec or Ontario (Paul Martin represents Montreal, and Stephen Harper represents Calgary, although both men were raised in Ontario), and the West has long felt alienated from more populous Quebec and Ontario. It's not hard to see that the isolation of the West, both geographically and psychologically, has been politically punishing.

In what is sure to become a famous declaration, Stephen Harper said Monday night, "The West has wanted in, the West is in now."

Posted by Sebastian / Canada / Election / January 25, 2006 /
 

Warriors and wusses
 
You don't hear dissension like this very often. Columnist Joel Stein takes the politically dangerous stance of "I don't support our troops."

"I'm not for the war. And being against the war and saying you support the troops is one of the wussiest positions the pacifists have ever taken -- and they're wussy by definition. It's as if the one lesson they took away from Vietnam wasn't to avoid foreign conflicts with no pressing national interest but to remember to throw a parade afterward."

"Blindly lending support to our soldiers, I fear, will keep them overseas longer by giving soft acquiescence to the hawks who sent them there -- and who might one day want to send them somewhere else."

Of those, "Support our Troops" car stickers: "The real purpose of those ribbons is to ease some of the guilt we feel for voting to send them to war and then making absolutely no sacrifices other than enduring two Wolf Blitzer shows a day. Though there should be a ribbon for that. I understand the guilt. We know we're sending recruits to do our dirty work, and we want to seem grateful. "

"When you volunteer for the U.S. military, you pretty much know you're not going to be fending off invasions from Mexico and Canada. So you're willingly signing up to be a fighting tool of American imperialism, for better or worse. Sometimes you get lucky and get to fight ethnic genocide in Kosovo, but other times it's Vietnam."

Posted by Sebastian / Politics / January 25, 2006 /
 

You're not 16 anymore!
 
There are many people who should probably not be wearing Abercrombie, including the company's 61-year-old founder.

Update: Apparently I'm not the only one scared by Mike Jeffries. Gawker talks to Benoit Denizet-Lewis, the piece's author.

Posted by Sebastian / Style / January 24, 2006 /
 

Oy! Say hello to the next prime minister
 
It's almost official: Stephen Harper, the Conservative Party leader from Calgary, will be Canada's next prime minister after his party won the most seats in the election for House of Parliament on Monday. I say 'almost official' because like in the U.S., the popular vote can ultimately mean nothing: the Governor General of Canada picks the next prime minister and she can choose any candidate she likes.

A few highlights of the election: Michael Ignatieff was elected in Toronto, winning 44% of the vote; gay MP Scott Brison was re-elected in Nova Scotia; and in the most staggering blow, Anne McLellan, the deputy prime minister (the closest equivalent to the U.S. vice president), lost her seat in Edmonton and will have to return to private life. She was the only Liberal member of parliament from Alberta.

I'm headed to bed tonight feeling like I just had three Lunestas and a vodka chaser. I am so dizzy from all of tonight's election commotion. There were lots of surprises, and many crushing defeats. Full report on Tuesday.

Posted by Sebastian / Election 2006 / January 23, 2006 /
 

Umm, you said what?
 
My award for Most Jaw-Dropping Quote of the Day (so far) goes to Michael Ignatieff, the Harvard celebrity-academic parachuted into a Toronto electoral district by the Liberal Party but who is now at risk of a stunning defeat:

"I'm a strong liberal internationalist," Ignatieff said. "That means when people are being chopped into small pieces I want to stand up for them."

Things aren't looking so hot for Ignatieff; look for him to be back on the streets of Cambridge as soon as the first flight from Toronto lands in Boston tomorrow morning.

Even Ron Chyczij, the Liberal Party's local leader in Ignatieff's Toronto district, has pulled his support, endorsing the Conservative candidate instead! "After the nomination fiasco," he said, "I've purposely waited on the sidelines to see if Michael Ignatieff can in some way redeem himself as a credible Liberal candidate in this riding. I regret to conclude this has not happened."

Posted by Sebastian / Election 2006 / Ignatieff / January 23, 2006 /
 

Canada is having an election and no one cares!
 
Today's election has passed under the radar of all major news outlets in the U.S., but an opinion piece by a Syracuse University academic suggests Americans pay attention to what's happening.

• An exception from today's Times: "Unless every national poll here is amiss, what has been perhaps the world's winningest political party is heading toward a humiliating defeat on Monday."

• The AP offers brief bios of each of the four top candidates for prime minister as well as a primer on the election and its significance. Easy reading for Americans!

Posted by Sebastian / Election 2006 / January 23, 2006 /
 

Monday's Election Day mantra: 'Don't let Calgary decide'
 
The caution offered by opponents of the Conservative party is shown here in a full-page newspaper ad in one newspaper: "Don't let Calgary decide for Quebec."

But Calgary --- and all it symbolizes in Canada for its wealth and capitalistic spirit, its ties to Texas and its long-felt alienation from the East --- may well be deciding the fate of the country, starting Monday.

Never in a thousand years could I have imagined 'Scary Stephen' Harper would become Canada's prime minister, but that is just what opinion polls say will happen today. It is predicted that for the first time in 13 years, the Conservatives will return to power, with the candidate from Calgary taking over the helm of the nation. The shift in power away from the Liberals will mean closer ties to the U.S., and renewed debate over the environment, abortion and same-sex marriage.

But the fate of a Conservatives victory hinges on how the day goes in Vancouver and Toronto. If the Conservatives can win any seats in the vote-rich Liberal stronghold of Toronto, they stand a good chance of winning the election. Paul Martin, on the other hand, believes the race will hinge on Vancouver, where there are numerous three-way races that will ultimately steal votes away from the Liberals and toward the left-leaning New Democratic Party.

Paul Martin is clearly not happy to have standing in his way in British Columbia a third party that will steal votes away from those Liberals-minded people who lean just a little more to the left and boost support for the NDP. The Globe and Mail says Martin "told West Coast residents that by lending NDP Leader Jack Layton votes, they will only hand Stephen Harper the country." The PM himself said,"Voting for Jack Layton might make a point, but it won't make a difference."

• Canadian TV network jazzes up campaign coverage with an 8-year-old commentator

Posted by Sebastian / Election 2006 / January 23, 2006 /
 

Kim Campbell, or, Why we shouldn't really care if the Conservatives win
 
In America, when George W. Bush began his second term, many friends joked, "Well, at least we know there's only four more years left, and he can't get reelected."

In Canada, leaders can be changed like underwear. Let's just remind ourselves how quickly leaders can come and go:

• Kim Campbell, prime minister from June 25 to November 4, 1993, was the last Conservative to hold national leadership. And look how long that idea lasted!

• Joe Clark led the country for a staggering 9 months, from June 4, 1979, to March 3, 1980. Nine months is all it takes.

• Is Stephen Harper next?

Posted by Sebastian / Election 2006 / January 23, 2006 /
 

With prospect of anti-marriage Prime Minister, gays line up to marry!
 
The Calgary Sun reports today that with the looming prospect of Stephen Harper being elected Canada's new prime minister on Monday, gay men and lesbians are lining up to get hitched before his government comes to power and potentially tries to halt same-sex unions. (Harper has repeatedly said it's not one of his top five priorities, and even if he found some way to curb such unions, he said those already performed would be grandfathered in.)

"People I never thought would marry in a million years are calling and saying they want to get married," said Rita Leonard, co-owner of Pride Bride. "We're getting a lot of people asking about it. People are scared and concerned and are looking for advice."

Posted by Sebastian / Election / Gay Marriage / January 20, 2006 /
 

Gay strip bar files complaint
 
The Montreal strip club Taboo [nsfw] has filed a complaint with the city's police ethics commission, alleging that a 2003 raid on the bar was carried out improperly. Police, acting on tips that minors were stripping there and sexual acts were taking place at the bar on de Maisonneuve, busted the joint and interrogated patrons and employees for up to three hours.

Taboo's owners said "dancers and patrons were jarred by the investigators' questions, which included graphic descriptions of the dancers' state of arousal," according to today's Gazette.

Posted by Sebastian / Montreal / January 20, 2006 /
 

Whole Paycheck Foods Coming to Maine
 
It's an exciting day for those of us who obsess over perfectly-arranged fruits and vegetables and have fantasies about all that beautiful meat over at Whole Paycheck!

Whole Foods is coming to Portland and I can hardly stand it. They have purchased and will take over the locally owned Whole Grocer until a new building is completed next year down the street.

The temporary Whole Foods is conveniently located next door to a branch of the Wild Oats chain, and the two even share a parking lot! It will be interesting to see how the Battle of the Free-Range, Grain-Fed, Anti-Hormone, Anti-Antibiotic Meat Purveyors plays out.

It's always sad to lose a local store, but at least the Whole Grocer was bought out by WFM instead of simply being put of business by them.  

Posted by Sebastian / Maine / January 20, 2006 /
 

Democracy may be sexy, but ads can't be
 
Ads produced by the young voter group Democracy is Sexy have been pulled from bars and colleges in Edmonton after being criticized for being too racy.



Posted by Sebastian / Edmonton / Election / January 19, 2006 /
 

Tapped out users get 'BlackBerry Spa'
 
It's appropriate that Canada.com has a story on the pains of BlackBerry Thumb today because just this morning I was struggling to type on my traditional keyboard because of the repetitive stress my BlackBerry has inflicted on my left-hand thumb. I can't hit the space bar anymore! But I'm not alone in having overworked digits.

"With the number of Blackberry users continuing to rise, one Toronto spa is hoping to cash in on what it thinks will be the next big thing: Blackberry massages."

"For just $80 -- and with soft music and calming sounds of nature as a backdrop -- professional masseurs will focus on the areas most affected by the constant tapping: forearms and thumbs."

• RIM, the Canadian maker of the BlackBerry, says its product is so vital to the continuity of the U.S. Government that the patent infringement suit against it should be dropped

Posted by Sebastian / Technology / January 19, 2006 /
 

Vancouverism
 
I'm reading a new urban design book, "Dream City: Vancouver and the Global Imagination." It's great! The book traces Vancouver's development over the past 100 years from a dreary sawmill town to the gleaming city we recognize today. The book focuses on the reasons why Vancouver is constantly being looked to as the model for successful urban planning and livability.

One review explains: "Vancouver does one thing well: We build condos higher and denser than any other spot on the continent, and our global reputation is currently being set by these acts. Because of our downtown peninsula’s love affair with tall, thin towers on townhouse bases, Vancouverism is replacing Manhattanism as the maximum power setting of contemporary city building. By some analyses, the average number of people living per hectare in our central core is now higher than that of the famous island in the Hudson."

But the same reviewer is skeptical of Vancouver's constant boosters: "There is a more serious addiction in this town, one that is talked about even less than crack or crank or smack. Gallons of it are consumed daily by our city planners, developers, designers and media managers, often after a session of hot yoga, or following a light meal of pickled lotus leaves, or even just sitting around swank coffee tables strewn with international accounts of our urban success. They are drinking their own bathwater. What bugs me is that they are calling it champagne."

Posted by Sebastian / Books / Vancouver / January 18, 2006 /
 

'I don't want another dog cookie store'
 
It's official. The out-of-place Waltham Tavern, described in one online review as "the shadiest dive I've ever been in," has been ordered closed by the Boston Licensing Board amid allegations of drug sales on the premises. The Globe described it as "one of the last low-rent joints in Boston's gentrifying South End," and it's anybody's guess what will happen with the space. But as one resident who has lived across the street from the gritty bar for 35 years told the Weekly Dig, “I don’t want to see any more yuppification. I don’t want another dog cookie store.”  

Another person added, “The place was a shithole. There would always be drunks hanging around at three in the afternoon. The neighborhood is yuppie hell now, and the Waltham’s left over from the old crack days.”

 

Posted by Sebastian / Boston / January 18, 2006 /
 

Five days and counting
 
With only five days left until a new Canadian government is elected, one of the politicians some say is at little risk for losing his seat in Ottawa is openly gay Scott Brison. We don't know who he's running against, and frankly, we don't care, because he's young and fabulous, and like so few gay men, he can don a cowboy hat and still look suave while palming an Inukshuk at the Calgary Stampede, as in this photo.

Brison defected to the Liberal Party a couple years ago, after making a failed bid to become leader of the Conservative Party. The Globe and Mail points out today that neither his being gay nor his party switch have cost him votes in the past but this year a new  challenge could come from the rising support for Conservatives in Nova Scotia, Brison's home, and in the rest of the Maritime region in general. 

Posted by Sebastian / Election / Scott Brison / January 18, 2006 /
 

The month of no-sun days
 
It's slit-your-wrists time in Vancouver, where it has rained nonstop for 27 days, just a day shy of a 53-year record. The rain has even caused massive slides and the evacuation of residents of North Vancouver. This umbrella says it all -- Shit!    



Posted by Sebastian / Vancouver / January 17, 2006 /
 

Calgary
 
I was once an urban studies major, so I am obsessive about cities. Calgary is one of the more fascinating ones (which, if you read my blog with any regularity, you may realize by now). Christopher DeWolf at Urban Photo has posted some new photos of Calgary that are great! And his musings of city life, including a new one about the changes being seen in Calgary, are always interesting.

"I grew up there and moved away nearly four years ago, sick of its banal architecture, lack of streetlife and provincial shelteredness. There's no hard feelings, though, especially since Calgary has changed so much in the short time since I left. As it grows, it is becoming a more dynamic place, something reflected in its streets."

"What impresses me most is that Calgary has gained a sense of self-awareness. Five years ago, the lack of introspection was infuriating. Few seemed interested in their city, its history, culture and built environment. That's changed." Still, "Calgary still has a dusty, quiet quality to it. Too many of it streets are cold and sterile."



A couple interesting points: DeWolf says that after Boston, Calgary has North America's busiest light rail system. He also says that city planners are aiming to increase the downtown population, already growing, as much as twelve-fold. Who knew?

Posted by Sebastian / Calgary / January 17, 2006 /
 

The Sex Party of Canada
 
Yes there is an officially registered Sex Party in Canada with candidates and a real, if tawdry, political agenda. They "seek to build sex-positive community and to challenge sex-negativity," but their materials aren't getting through the mail since Canada Post has blocked their flyers for being too sexy. 

Posted by Sebastian / Canada / January 17, 2006 /
 

Why I love Boston
 
Some people think it's the clam chowder, the brownstones, or the swan boats that distinguish Boston. But I think it's the funny undercurrent of society life that pervades so much of life. If you just read the latest edition of the new super-glossy Boston Common magazine like I just did, you might feel the same way. In a hilarious piece, socialite Maud Cabot describes a perfect day winter day in Boston. A couple choice lines that reflect its funny tone:

After lunch at the swank Louis Boston with her sister, "I have a few minutes before I pick my kids up at school. We dash across the street to Alan Bilzerian. Dolly shows us their private-label stretch-leather pants. In either slate gray or black, these pants would keep me warm all winter. And they fit like a glove!"

"Later, my husband, Andrew, and I meet our friends Gita and Mark for dinner at Union Bar & Grille, where the hostess shows us to a comfortable booth. Over a hearty dinner of salmon, lamb, venison, and braised short ribs, we chat a little about work and a lot about vacation plans -- specifically ones involving skiing. While Gita and I vote for Aspen, Andrew defends skiing in New England. Mark is happy with either choice. Whether or not any of us actually goes skiing this winter remains to be seen!"

Perhaps you need to live here to find this funny. I certainly laughed out loud reading the article [not available online].

Posted by Sebastian / Boston / January 17, 2006 /
 

Comedy shows told not to use debate footage
 
Canadians are famous for their political satire. But with the federal election just one week away, the country's popular television news parodies (think "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart") have been ordered not to use footage from political debates in their broadcasts following an agreement made between the major political parties and the major networks.

The outlandish Rick Mercer, Canada's most famous political satirist (pictured here getting a ride from Liberal Party bigwig Belinda Stronach), was angered by the move to disallow use of debate clips in his show, "The Rick Mercer Report," but as he told the New York Times, he did not use any debate clips in his show, not because of the ban, but because "It's so pathetic I won't use it," he said. "The whole idea of calling it a debate is contemptible. They may as well have just run the parties' infomercials."

The producer of "This Hour Has 22 Minutes," another political satire said, "Part of me thought we should put up a big fight, but we've had no problem making them look silly without the debate footage."

I'm headed to Rick's show in two weeks, just in time to catch the fallout from the election, and can't wait. He is the funniest guy ever, and cute too (for an old dork). 

Posted by Sebastian / Election 2006 / January 16, 2006 /
 

Racy undies 
 
Style guru Russell Smith at the Globe and Mail has discovered an online undie emporium, UnderU (This site may not be suitable for work, so beware!). He calls it "an amusing experience, particularly if you are an admirer of hairless muscular youths pretending to play Twister or doing their laundry in clingy briefs."

"Part of the fun of such a catalogue, of course, is, let's be honest, the eye-popping bulges, and in this particular one, a few of the models appear to be, let's say, particularly happy to be photographed."

Posted by Sebastian / Style / January 16, 2006 /
 

Waterton Lakes  
 
I've gotten a few emails about my latest header photo, so I thought I'd share another similar one. These are from last summer in Waterton Lakes National Park in southern Alberta. The park is essentially the Canadian side of Montana's Glacier National Park. If you've seen Brokeback Mountain, you may recognize the scenery since the film was shot nearby. In the header image, you'll notice the Prince of Wales Hotel in the extreme right, one of Canada's famed railway hotels.



Posted by Sebastian / Calgary / January 16, 2006 /
 

A flight from hell
 
Yesterday in New York, it was a messy, nasty, and just plain yucky day. The awful weather made for an evening in which I defied death like never before. My friend Alison dropped me off at Laguardia to hop the 6 o'clock Shuttle to Boston but warned me that the weather was looking so ominous that maybe I shouldn't attempt the trip. Being the fearless flier, I waved her off and jumped on the plane.

Shortly after takeoff, the pilot told us that we couldn't fly any higher because of reports of "severe turbulence" ahead of us. So we cruised at 10,000 feet all the way from New York to Boston. For 32 minutes, we proceeded to toss up and down and side to side -- even violently at moments, causing me to have thoughts of an infamous United flight across the Pacific a few years back during which turbulence was so severe that passengers hit the ceiling of the cabin.

The pilots instructed the flight attendants to not get up for the duration of the flight, and I spent most of the trip holding both armrests tightly, and listening to the ominous score from "Titanic" on my iPod to heighten the sensation of worry. Simply, it was the worst flight of my life, and I've had some nail-biters! I walked off the plane in Boston and thought, "I'm getting too old for this flying nonsense!"

• And on a side note, yesterday morning, a full 41 days after I took this photo, Jamaica continued to be spelled wrong on the flight displays at Logan Airport. I told a US Airways employee who quickly had the problem fixed.



Posted by Sebastian / Aviation / January 15, 2006 /
 

New Frank Lloyd Wright boathouse planned in Buffalo
 
Celebrities including Mary Tyler Moore, Blythe Danner, and Dana Delaney have jumped on the bandwagon of supporters trying to have an unbuilt Frank Lloyd Wright boathouse constructed on the Buffalo waterfront. The building was designed in 1905 and was heralded by the architect as one of his eight most important structures, but it was never actually built. 



• Related: Frank Lloyd Wright Stays Busy in Buffalo. 45 years after his death, three buildings by Wright are in the works.

Posted by Sebastian / Buffalo / January 13, 2006 /
 

Boston bar was 'nothing more than an illegal drug store'
 
The seediest dive in Boston is expected to be ordered to close this week following an investigation into alleged mob ties and drug sales on the premises.

The Waltham Tavern, on Shawmut Avenue in the South End, is one of the few pre-gay-ghetto remnants left in the neighbourhood. Maybe I'm being judgmental, calling it seedy without ever happening set foot in the place, but something about the declaration on the sign outside the one-window bar -- "Pool Table, Ladies Invited" -- freaks me out.  

"This is the most outrageous violation I've seen as far as allowing illegality in a licensed premises in many, many years," said Boston Licensing Board chairman Daniel Pokaski. ''The testimony that certain undercover agents walked in and illegal drugs were readily available to them tells this board that this was nothing more than an illegal drug store."

Posted by Sebastian / Boston / January 13, 2006 /
 

Canadian government study recommends polygamy law be dropped
 
A study commissioned by Canada's Justice Department says the country should drop its ban on polygamy: "Criminalization does not address the harms associated with valid foreign polygamous marriages and plural unions, in particular the harms to women,'' it says.

Posted by Sebastian / Canada / January 13, 2006 /
 

Does this look like the snowball throw of a future prime minister?
 
Here Stephen Harper launches one at reporters in Fredericton yesterday as polls -- today's polls at least -- predict a narrow win for his Conservative Party in the January 23 federal election. His opponents are frantically crisscrossing the nation trying to cast him as a pro-American extremist, while Egale Canada, the national gay lobby, has given Harper a failing grade on gay rights.



Posted by Sebastian / Election 2006 / January 12, 2006 /
 

CNN gives to the gays
 
CNN today announced a $100,000 donation to the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association to endow a new scholarship fund for LGBT college students who plan a career in journalism.

Posted by Sebastian / Media / January 12, 2006 /
 

A cool new reality show!
 
Next week, the Travel Channel launches a new reality show about the rigours of flight attendant school at Frontier Airlines in Denver.

Posted by Sebastian / Aviation / January 11, 2006 /
 

Shameless plug
 
Feel free to vote for me for Genre Man of the Year. Pretty please. If you don't like me, then at least vote for my friend Cyd.



Posted by Sebastian / SFGW / January 11, 2006 /
 

New mayor kills Rochester-Toronto ferry
 
Two weeks into his first term as mayor of Rochester, Robert Duffy last night made the decision to pull the plug on the Rochester to Toronto fast ferry, which zoomed across Lake Ontario in 2 1/2 hours. "The City of Rochester will no longer be in the ferry business," he said.

The service began just two years ago, and was plagued from the start with missteps and fluctuating ridership, but opponents of the mayor's decision say it's too early to cancel a service that hasn't had a chance to prove itself yet.

Toronto David Miller is among those who disagreed with the move, saying, “It’s too bad. The ferry was a good thing for Toronto. This is a waterfront city and the ferry provided an opportunity to bring travelers here from all over the northeastern United States. It’s a regrettable development.’’

The best part of the ferry's run was not the service -- which for speedy drivers like me did not cut the travel time between Rochester and Toronto at all -- but rather the media circus it created. Jan Wong of the Globe and Mail started the trend a few years back with a searing travel piece on Rochester: "The good news is that Torontonians are getting an exciting new car ferry," her piece declared. "The bad news is it's going to Rochester." In the middle of the excitement, I had this op-ed about Rochester to offer.

Posted by Sebastian / Rochester / Toronto / January 11, 2006 /
 

Boston neighbors object to plan for handicap access in Copley Sq
 
It's said that Mayor Thomas Menino may run Boston, but the real power is held by members of the Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay, the group that, as a rule, opposes any and all building projects in the tony and historic section of town (unofficial motto: "You propose, we oppose"). Their latest target: plans for two new headhouses that will provide elevator access to subway stops in Copley Square (similar to the new Aquarium Station, pictured).

They claim the structures will "violate the architectural symmetry" of the Boston Public Library and obstruct sightlines to Copley Square. But as Brian McGrory at the Globe points out, "The head houses, I should note, are to be made of glass." So the group went to court to stop the building, but their request for an injunction was denied. And the legal battle continues: then Neighborhood Association has filed an appeal in federal court to halt the project.

McGrory writes: "They've lost a sense of perspective, and, in short, seem more concerned with the buildings of the Back Bay than the people who live and work inside them. What they fail to understand is that cities are vital and dynamic places. Copley Square is filled with trucks, restaurants, and stores, mobbed with people of all colors and shapes. It is blessed with three historic landmarks in the form of a stately library and two gorgeous churches, but buildings exist to encourage life, not to stymie it. Every day that people with disabilities lack easier access to the Back Bay is another day of embarrassment for this city -- and another day of shame for NABB."

"Nothing's easy in this town, is it?"

Posted by Sebastian / Boston / January 11, 2006 /
 

The art of lobstering
 
I just came across a neat photo gallery of lobstermen hard at work in New Brunswick.



This shot reminds me of a line in an article about Maine I wrote last year: "Around his fishy boat, a flock of ducks and gulls gathers, swooping and swimming and being bothersome as he loads another trap with bait and lumbers it back into the sea."





Posted by Sebastian / New Brunswick / January 11, 2006 /
 

Parking perks for Dede and co.
 
The same week that officials in Boston denounced VIP parking perks at Logan Airport, the same situation is playing out at San Francisco International. Only in San Francisco a normally mundane story is spiced up by the Chronicle's publication of the complete list of the people receiving free preferential parking at SFO.

Included on the list of 169 Very Important Parkers is Dede Wilsey (shown here with her son Trevor, whom I adore, and the one and only Oscar), heir to the Dow Chemical fortune and the flamboyant/uber-rich socialite vilified by her stepson in the book, "Oh, the Glory of It All," and James Hormel, the well-known gay philanthropist and former ambassador to Luxembourg. (Because they need free parking.)

During the early 1990s there were a reported 5,000 free parking passes in circulation in San Francisco but the number has dropped precipitously since a grand jury ruled that the list of parkers was a simply an "old boy's network."

Posted by Sebastian / SF / January 10, 2006 /
 

Blame Montreal
 
Like Washington, Ottawa is a capital city overrun with gay people. But for a city of its size (1 million people), it is struggling to create a cohesive gay community. The problem: its close proximity to Montreal is sucking the life out of Ottawa's gay scene.

"We have Montreal two hours down the road, and that's what undoes us," said Doug Janoff, a gay Canadian writer. "It makes us lazy. Why bother getting involved in the community when we can work at our public service jobs Monday to Friday and then just go party in Montreal on the weekend?"    

Posted by Sebastian / Ottawa / January 10, 2006 /
 

Toronto vs Buffalo 
 
There was a time when a evening of fun in Toronto the Good meant driving 90 minutes for a night on the town in Big Bad Buffalo. Mary Kunz Goldman, a Buffalo News columnist who I don't always enjoy, offers up her explanations for "Why Toronto isn't Buffalo, and vice versa."



• Our slums are slummier. "We're not used to boarded-up buildings or rusting, derelict industrial sites," a Toronto business consultant told the News. "Buffalo isn't as bad as it was, but there is still a greater acceptance of - I don't know how to say it - urban wreckage."

• Buffalonians "always seem 15 percent friendlier and more outgoing - OK, louder - than the dour urban Canadians we see."

Posted by Sebastian / Buffalo / Toronto / January 10, 2006 /
 

Rights tribunal investigating sex acts
 
The British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal will investigate various sexual practices including bondage, discipline and submission, and sadism and masochism undertaken by a man who said he was denied a job as a limo driver because of his sexual interests. 

Posted by Sebastian / Vancouver / January 10, 2006 /
 

Let kids be kids! 
 
There's an interesting piece in the Times, "How we took the child out of childhood"  [subscription required], about the plight of two Westchester County residents who are trying to make their suburban towns friendly to a let-kid-be-kids ethos. The story will resonate with anyone who has ever been annoyed at the sight of 10-year-olds cavorting around with cell phones, while those of us in our 20s somehow survived life without them, and without the jam-packed roster of activities put forth by overindulgent parents.  We turned out just fine, didn't we?

"How did we get to the point where few kids ever get to play with friends outside of a play date, to walk to a neighbor's house without parental escort or to have free, unsupervised time in which they're not tethered to a television set, computer or Xbox? How is it that Mr. Bernstein's friends in their 40's go out to play soccer every Saturday but their children wouldn't know how to organize a game on their own without parents around?"

"How come long, long ago I got to play football in the street every day after school with Sammy Brett and Howie Kavaler and the rest of the neighborhood kids on Long Island, or to ride my bike as far out along the service road of the Long Island Expressway as I cared to, but children now live in permanent lockdown, their every moment planned, organized, monitored and measured? How did this happen?"

Posted by Sebastian / Etceteras / January 10, 2006 /
 

The things you find 
 
The other day I found an old disposable camera that I had kept in my car during college for those moments when one would come in handy. Today I finally had the photos developed out of sheer curiosity, and unfortunately, few photos actually came out. But among the poor shots there were two portraits: one of me and one of my friend Julie at the crest of Cobbs Hill Park in Rochester. I pieced the two together in Photoshop to create this shot. Julie, unlike me, knows how to smile in photos. I just pose for them.



Posted by Sebastian / Rochester / January 9, 2006 /
 

My fav building at risk 
 
One of my most beloved buildings in the Queen City, the former Buffalo State Asylum for the Insane, is at risk of crumbling not because of a lack of money to restore it to its former glory, but because no one can quite decide how to spend the $100 million the state has set aside for the National Historic Landmark, which has essentially been abandoned for years. The twin-towered building with its distinctive patina was designed by Henry Hobson Richardson -- best known as the man who designed Trinity Church in Boston.



• More Buffalo architecture from my site buildings i like

Posted by Sebastian / Buffalo / January 9, 2006 /
 

Time magazine gets its geography wrong 
 
I have a bit of a fetish about geography, so I was particularly appalled to see this reference to a "province of Calgary" in a Time magazine article about the Canadian election:



True, there are multiple definitions of "province," but in this case I just know they're wrong!

Posted by Sebastian / Calgary / Election 2006 / January 8, 2006 /
 

The Passion of the Cowboy
 
Globe columnist Alex Beam takes a whack at Brokeback Mountain in his latest column. He criticizes the film's "pretentious, useless soundtrack," and says moviegoers should be prepared to "endure the heavy-handed morality play; just don't plan on having a good time." Though I'm not necessarily in the business of defending the super-hyped film, I disagree with his assessment of the film.

Others do as well. A well-crafted letter to the editor today said, "Alex Beam is free and welcome to state his negative opinion of the film 'Brokeback Mountain,' but he makes distorted and misleading assertions about the film and its reception by the public that seem to indicate an effort to cast the film in a negative light."

• Brokeback pulled from Salt Lake theatre

Posted by Sebastian / Etceteras / January 8, 2006 /
 

Talkin' Texan
 
President Bush, on his new plan for language education: "In order to convince people we care about them, we've got to understand their culture and show them we care about their culture," he said. "You know, when somebody comes to me and speaks Texan, I know they appreciate the Texas culture. When somebody takes time to figure out how to speak Arabic, it means they're interested in somebody else's culture."

Posted by Sebastian / Politics / January 7, 2006 /
 

The lobbying that dare not speak its name...
 
The latest blockbuster: "Kickback Mountain" (thanks David).



Posted by Sebastian / Politics / January 6, 2006 /
 

Tree assassin goes free
 
The case of a prominent Vancouver businesswoman charged with killing three trees to protect her view of English Bay in the city's West End has been discharged by a provincial judge because of the public humiliation the woman endured.

The Globe and Mail reports, "Vancouver news media treated the case of the Beach Drive tree killing as a major crime, and Ms. Matheson became the target of hate mail, death threats and taunts." Her lawyer argued that "coast-to-coast humiliation" was punishment enough, and the court agreed.

Neighbours told police that Matheson and a friend were spotted acting suspiciously around the trees late one night. "The accused crossed to the bike path near the affected trees, and while the male paced back and forth on the bike path . . . the accused was seen to bend down in the area of each of the affected trees," prosecutors said. She then is believed to have poisoned the trees with a combination of pesticides smuggled across the U.S.-Canada border.

Posted by Sebastian / Vancouver / January 6, 2006 /
 

A few good men's spas 
 
Air Canada's e-zine, onAir, features a piece on male grooming, or manscaping, and a few tempting spas in this month's edition.

"Metrosexuals move over. There's a new man in town. Introducing the übersexual: men who want to be in touch with their feminine side and feel like real men again. Catching on to this new market of men who watch basketball and take care of their skin (think P.Diddy), manly spas are cropping up all over the country."

• Absolute Spa at the Hotel Vancouver is "luxury spa with a major injection of testosterone...At this downtown spa, you might spot Ben Affleck or Simon Cowell having a hot towel shave or eyebrow shaping but you definitely won't find anything pink."

• At Bode Spa in Ottawa, "shots of scotch or tequila are on hand to bolster the courage of waxing virgins."

Posted by Sebastian / Style / January 6, 2006 /
 

The most depressing day of the year: election day 
 
Canada's federal election is scheduled for January 23, which a psychology professor has calculated is, coincidentally, the most depressing day of the year. The U.K. prof based his finding on "the poorest weather, debts owed for holiday spending, the time since Christmas, the period of time before abandoning New Year's resolutions, the dates when motivation levels are lowest, and when people feel they need a vacation or another escape to fend off the blues."

"Depression kind of makes you feel like nothing matters and you can't make a difference. I would guess that if anything would add to the apathy factor, people might say ... 'What effect can I make?' and not bother [to vote]."

Posted by Sebastian / Election 2006 / January 6, 2006 /
 

Retail the hot new thing in Calgary
 
I love to shop, so I thought it interesting that after New York City, the highest-grossing first day sales at a Williams-Sonoma store were in Calgary last summer. Retail is booming in Alberta's biggest city, helped by the fact that there are more head offices per capita and a higher rate of home ownership than anywhere else in the country. Not to mention a highly paid work force and a constant flow of oil money.

A few new developments in the works include the 1.4 million square foot Deerfoot Meadows, a shopping centre boasting an IKEA as well as Lexus, Mercedes, and BMW dealers, and the adjacent Village at Deerfoot Meadows, a dining and retail "lifestyle centre" designed to look like an old-fashioned village. 

Posted by Sebastian / Calgary / Real Estate / January 5, 2006 /
 

Independence Air's wings clipped
 
Today is the day that 18-month-old Independence Air gets laid to rest, the latest casualty of competition, high fuel prices, and ticket prices that "rivaled the price of a holiday sweater at a department store clearance sale," as the Detroit Free Press puts it.

For all the airline's flaws, I give CEO Kerry Skeen credit for orchestrating one of the most seamless collapses in airline history. He gave employees a few days notice and alerted the flying public that their tickets would be useless come Thursday evening when the last flight leaves White Plains for Washington. There has been very little excitement to the airline's grounding, unlike the last big shutdown, of Canadian discount airline Jetsgo last year.

CEO Michel Leblanc pulled the plug on Jetsgo in the middle of the night, the day before the busy March school vacation began, stranding passengers and crew across Canada, the U.S., and the Caribbean. Even the poor flight attendants had to find their own way home! The employees of Jetsgo didn't stand a chance working for Leblanc, an airline wonk who made a life out of starting various discount airlines and then spiraling them (effortlessly) into bankrupt oblivion.

Aviation will forever attract dreamers whose aspirations far surpass their business acumen, with JetBlue, Southwest, and WestJet three notable exceptions.

Posted by Sebastian / Aviation / January 5, 2006 /
 

'One of the most disturbing and disgraceful media performances'
 
It's been horrifying to watch how the West Virginia mine disaster has played out. The images of Appalachian coal miners and their hardscrabble communities is almost unbelievable to those of us on the rich coasts. Watching it all, I kept thinking, "this is not America I know." Their world is simply not one I can fathom.

The media coverage has been interesting, to say the least. Cyd over at the Dooryard said the story was being sensationalized, and the conflicting paper headlines this morning reflected the chaos of last evening's erroneous announcements (photo, right).

But for me it was reporter Bruce Morton on CNN who had the most simple and poignant story to tell. In a short 90-second piece he talked about the history of the coal mining industry and ended by saying, "My late father grew up in a coal mining town -- that's a long time ago now. And I always thought the smartest thing he ever did was walk away from it."  

Depending on when you picked up the paper this morning, you may have received a different take on the mine disaster. Below is the Globe's first edition, and then its revision. Luckily for the west coast papers, the three-hour time difference meant they mostly got the story right (except for the LA Times early edition), while the New York Times and just about every paper east of Minneapolis did not. Industry publication Editor & Publisher called the errors and eventual retractions, "one of the most disturbing and disgraceful media performances of its kind in recent years."   



Posted by Sebastian / Media / January 4, 2006 /
 

I love headline writers
 
From 365gay.com:



Posted by Sebastian / Media / January 4, 2006 /
 

Conflicting views on crime
 
Antonio Zerbisias, the Toronto Star's media columnist, says coverage of the city's Boxing Day shooting has involved too much of that "Toronto-has-lost-its-innocence crap that never seemed to dominate the headlines as much when it was happening to non-blonde non-white non-girls in non-familiar neighbourhoods that none of us comfy middle class types would venture into."

Posted by Sebastian / Toronto / January 4, 2006 /
 

Top pics of the year
 
I'm a photo fanatic, and there are plenty of year-end best-of photo galleries on the Web from MSNBC, Time, and Reuters, among others. Here are a few good ones.









Posted by Sebastian / Etceteras / January 4, 2006 /
 

Site secrets
 
In case those of you who actually click onto my homepage haven't figured it out yet, the images change on each visit. And if you click on them, you get the full backstory on the shots.



Posted by Sebastian / SFGW / January 4, 2006 /
 

Barbie accused of being part of transgender movement
 
Apparently Concerned Women for America is concerned about Barbie and the possibility that Mattel is endorsing a transgender agenda. (via Paul)

Posted by Sebastian / Etceteras / January 3, 2006 /
 

Marriage crusade ramps up work, but its online explanation doesn't work
 
The group Vote Marriage Canada, which bills itself as "Working to elect a pro-traditional marriage Parliament to protect our children's future," is busy at work endorsing candidates for the Jan. 23 federal election who do not support marriage for same-sex couples and who will work to undo last summer's legalization in Canada.

The organization's web site explains the gravity of the situation: "The very future of Canada, the future we will pass on to our children, grandchildren and generations to come, depends in large measure on protecting and preserving traditional marriage."

But the best part is...drum roll please... "Legalizing same-sex marriage will undermine our families. Click here for analysis of why this will happen." The link to "click here" does not work. Is that metaphor or what?

Posted by Sebastian / Gay Marriage / January 3, 2006 /
 

More rich getting richer
 
In Boston, one in 20 households are millionaries. Over the next five years, the number of millionaires here is expected to grow by 50%, continuing to set Boston apart from other big American cities.

Recently I was walking down Boylston Street with a first-time visitor to the city who, out of the blue, remarked, "there's so much money here." I've lived in Boston for almost four years and have faced the peculiar feeling of being both desensitized to the environment and deeply aware of it.

Posted by Sebastian / Boston / January 2, 2006 /
 

2005 Hall of Fame and and Shame and Embarrassment
 
None of these people really qualify for a Hall of Shame. It's more like a Hall of Embarrassment, or Hall of Painful Obviousness, instead. In no particular order:



Christy Clark, for living in the 'burbs while running for mayor of Vancouver and thinking she could get away with it. Called an opportunist, public backlash of her residency skirting ensued and so when she eventually she bought a place in the city, no one really believed her spokesman when he said, "she wanted to move into Vancouver no matter what." In the end, it didn't matter, because she lost.

Beverly Desjarlais, a member of parliament from northern Manitoba, was repaid by her Liberal Party constituents for her stance against same-sex marriage when they did not renominate her for the January 23 federal election. She has been forced to run as an independent.

Michael Ignatieff, for trying to run for federal office in Canada while living in Boston, repeatedly claiming he was a resident of Toronto, all the while telling the Harvard Crimson that if he loses the race, he wants to be back in Boston. And of course, I add him to this year's Hall of Embarrassment for misspelling "Ottawa" in numerous places in his online curriculum vitae. The egregious error has since been corrected.

Ralph Klein, the chain-smoking premier of Alberta and former mayor of Calgary, for so relentlessly battling the encroachment of same-sex marriage into Texas North. Still, I give him credit for throwing his hands up in the air in June and declaring, "There are no legal weapons. There's nothing left in the arsenal...We're out on a lurch."

Brian Mulroney, former prime minister of Canada, for being so uncouth when talking to the man who eventually wrote his biography. If you didn't hate him when he ran the country, you do now. One columnist called the book a "tale of anger, betrayal and braggadocio so loud and lewd that 'unguarded' and 'confession' are an understatement."

In some cases, my Hall of Fame might be better termed the Hall of People Pissing Others Off and Not Really Giving a Damn:



Gerald Tremblay, the dorky and sometimes flamboyant mayor of Montreal, for breaking royal protocol and giving Princess Margriet of the Netherlands a peck on the cheek when she visited the city in May. "I don't know if she was amused, but I can tell you Her Highness was not upset," her handlers told the press.

Scott Brison, the openly gay Cabinet minister from Nova Scotia, not for being an openly gay politician, but for so willingly admitting to the press that he is engaged to his boyfriend of only SIX MONTHS. But never mind. Scott, we still love you, and we look forward to invitation to the wedding, and the divorce proceedings.

Frank McKenna, Canada's ambassador to the U.S. and former premier of New Brunswick, for telling the press mere days into his appointment that "the United States is a wonderful creation." However, "the government of the United States is in large measure dysfunctional." So much for being diplomatic.

Peter Jennings, for helping import dozens of Canadian journalists to the U.S. all the while infuriating those who believe Canadian reporters shouldn't be delivering news about America to Americans. An ABC colleague told me, "In a television world that too often focuses on celebrity and tabloid tales and seems to prize the anchorman who yells the loudest, Peter refused to play along. He fought aggressively to keep international news on his newscast. He believed Americans needed to know what is going on in the world beyond their borders."

Andre Boisclair, the openly gay and formerly drug-using leader of the Parti Quebecois, for giving me something to write about that appeals to American gay men otherwise uninterested in anything related to Canadian politics. A friend or two of his also deserve credit for feeding me gossip about him -- which, I might add, I have not posted on the Internet.

Posted by Sebastian / Etceteras / January 1, 2006 /