Blockbuster busted

The other shoe in the traumatic redrawing of the entertainment landscape has just dropped: the remaining Blockbuster stores in Canada are now slated to close.

That's right, folks: the video store as we know it is finally dead. No one ever said progress came without cost.

Your turn: In a world without video stores, where do you find stuff to watch?

For more shopping-related Thematic, click here.

This just in: If you're in Canada, I'll be chatting about this live tomorrow (Thursday) morning on CTV's Canada AM. Tune in just before 7:15 a.m. and I'll be on with Seamus O'Regan.

But wait, there's more: Here's a link to the Canada AM interview.

Saucy collection

Just for the taste of it
London, ON, August 2011

There's a delightful market near our house. It's called "Remark", and it's one of those local, folks-know-your-name kind places that makes you glad that nationally-owned chains haven't completely taken over. I'd heard about it for years but, for reasons I can't explain or understand, never got around to going.

Until this weekend. Thanks to my wife and kids who know how much I enjoy everyday adventures like this, we decided it was time for me to become Remark-savvy. And what a revelation it was, chock full of neat little finds that make grocery shopping more like fun and less like a chore. We bumped into folks we knew, and delighted in finding little flourishes of decor that made it feel much warmer than the typical store.

The lighting also caught my eye, so it didn't take long for me to start wondering how it would all look on a two-dimensional, 4x6-inch plane. From the looks of this spice display, it all looks rather delish. I'll be back.

Your turn: Got a locally-owned/managed store near you that makes a difference? Do tell.

One more thing: To share your own shopping-themed experience, follow your mouse this way.

Popeye the Sailor Man

You come across the craziest things when you go grocery shopping. Like this fellow. What should we name him?

For more Thematic shopping silliness, go here.

Thematic Photographic 160 - Shopping

Conspicuous consumption
Laval, QC, July 2011

Thematic goes shopping this week, and we're hoping you'll find a bit of time to do the same. As you can imagine, shopping can be interpreted six ways from Sunday, and you've got a whole week to play with your camera and come up with your own take on it.

As you can see, I've been to the grocery store. This time, anyway. Where will I go tomorrow? Not sure yet. Drop back in to see how this develops.

Your turn: Are you feeling like a shopaholic? Either way, post a shopping-themed pic to your blog or website - or simply find something you've already posted - and leave a comment here letting everyone know where to find it. Repeat as often as you wish through the week, and feel free to invite your friends along for the ride. Thematic isn't a competition: It's a fun, non-competitive way to spread our photographic wings a bit. Are you in?

If you're new to the Thematic thing, click here for more info on how it all works.

Get yourself some cheap sunglasses

Faceoff
Grand Bend, ON
August 2011

About this photo: We're winding down our "vibrancy" theme with one last pic. It's not too late to share your own: Just click here. Our next theme will be "Shopping" and will launch tonight at 7:00 Eastern.

They're cheap, cheesy and oh so kitschy. Everything on sale on the sidewalk of the main drag through this lakeside tourist town seems to scream immediate, almost-disposable gratification.

Purists may hold their noses up, of course. But when you're headed to the beach and need a towel, a few toys and some eye protection you don't want to worry about, you're almost thankful for the few dozen opportunistic vendors who've set up shop here.

Summer selling season is an all-too-brief blink of time for these people, and they either sell what they've got when the warm sun shines or risk spending a very cold winter by a very cold lake. I quietly hope their sales are as hot as the pavement below before I turn for the lake and head back to my family.

Your turn: Who wears these? Why?

Fire in the sky

Blink and it's gone
London, ON, August 2011
[Click photo to embiggen]

Vibrancy can happen anywhere, but we only pick up on it if we're looking for it in the first place. It's all too easy to get caught up in the back-and-forth of the everyday. It's all too easy to miss the fun because we simply weren't paying attention.

On this night, it was halftime at our daughter's soccer game, and I found myself looking for things to shoot before the light faded for good. The sky was particularly entertaining, and I'm glad I paid attention this time.

Your turn: How do you avoid missing moments that matter?

On immoral force

"Force always attracts men of low morality."
Albert Einstein

A face in the flag

Can you see it?
Grand Bend, ON, August 2011

About this photo: It's Thematic's vibrant week, and it can be yours, too. Just follow your mouse here.

I'm always taking pictures of flags (like this one and this one.) I don't believe in the I-already-have-it-at-home-so-I-won't-bother philosophy of photography. Rather, I believe in returning to things we've shot before, because you never know when a factor or two will shift a little and completely change the tone of what you ultimately capture.

Which brings me to this flag. It stands at the entrance to the public beach at Grand Bend, a sentinel to the thousands of people who converge on this playground on the average sunny summer day. Almost no one pays attention to it because, let's face it, they've seen it all before. But I had my long-ish lens on the camera, and as I walked back from refilling the extort-, er, parking meter, I decided I didn't want to leave this delightfully raucous little tourist town without some photographic evidence.

As I often do when I'm walking alone, I'll deliberately carry my camera over my shoulder. That makes it easy to shoot at will whenever the urge strikes. The shoot-and-run principle dictates fast decisions, quick compositions and not a whole lot of forethought. You go with your gut, grabbing whatever strikes you as meaningful in the moment. It's a glorious way to fill what would otherwise be a few mindless moments, a wonderful way to remember what it felt like to walk from here to there, to remember the feel, the spirit of this place.

So, back to the flag. As I got closer to the beach, the familiar fabric that was blowing in the wind almost seemed to ask for a shot. I stopped mid-sidewalk, composed and shot off at least ten frames (G-d bless you, digital.) Nine of them were lousy thanks to wind-whipped shapes that completely ruined the majesty that is the maple leaf (you don't have to be Canadian to love this flag, after all. It rocks in its own right. I know I'm biased, but still...) The tenth and very last frame was, well, look for yourself.*

Sometimes, magic happens through a lens. Sometimes, you're just lucky enough to have decided to be there at that moment when it happens.

Your turn: So how do you explain this? Pure coincidence or some kind of sign? Or am I just seeing things?

* For the record, this pic isn't PhotoShopped. I'm not that good. Besides, it would violate my whole no-heroic-editing philosophy.

On vision

"Imagination gives you the picture. Vision gives you the impulse to make the picture your own."
Robert Collier

Hurricane Irene: You suck

Forgive me for the harsh headline. Bad weather puts me in a mood.

Of course, it's weather. It's been happening for billions of years, long before we built cities beside - or in some cases, below - the sea, long before we decided we were masters of the environment. Yeah, right.

So I can't really blame Mother Nature for doing her thing. I can, however, toss a few barbs at every American television network anchor and reporter currently covering the hurricane beat. There's a fine line between informing the public (good) and scaring the bejeebers out of them for no good reason (as you likely guessed, bad) and I'm going to conclude that most of these journos long ago crossed that line.

Their hyperbolic, sensationalistic choice of words and tone doesn't help viewers understand what they need to do to protect themselves and their homes. Sure, it may grab viewers' attention, but like a Fox "News" show, you come away feeling like you've actually lost brain cells in the process.

I just watched a reporter stand in a wind tunnel to illustrate the effects of hurricane-force winds on the human body. I didn't learn a whole lot that I didn't know, but I'm going to spend a while trying to banish those images of his flapping cheeks from my mind. Repeating the Google Earth projection of lower Manhattan flooding with 500 BILLION TONS OF WATER three times was probably a bit much, too. I'm pretty sure there's at least one viewer out there who thought it was real and is now reaching for his panic attack meds.

There are plenty of examples of great reporting on this potentially serious weather event. Unfortunately, they're being drowned out by the morons whose attention-grabbing pursuit of ratings seems to matter more to them than the basic journalistic goal of serving the community's greater good.

Your turn: How is Hurricane Irene touching you?

Painted ladies and a bottle of wine

The definition of red
Grand Bend, ON, August 2011

About this photo: It's Thematic's vibrant week, and you're invited to post your own. Go here to start.

Ever notice how towns near large bodies of water seem to be painted with a different palette than those further inland? I found this delightfully painted building just a couple of blocks in from Lake Huron, on the main drag of an equally delightfully busy tourist burg. This place is raucous kitsch in all its glory, and I wouldn't change a thing.

Your turn: Who lives here?

Steve Jobs quits Apple. The world slows down a little

So by now you've likely heard the news that Steve Jobs is stepping down as CEO of Apple. What's next? Good question. I'll do my best to answer it - and many others - in the days to come.

What was initially a quiet evening spent shepherding our son to choir practice quickly turned into a bit of a free-for-all (don't worry, though, as I dig this stuff.) I've spoken with CTV News Channel's Brad Giffen, the Toronto Star and the Deutsche-Presse agency. Coming up is a chat with CFRB Newstalk Radio 1010 in Toronto, and CTV's Canada AM. Busy night around these parts - never mind the tornado warnings and the blustery storms that are blanketing the region.

More soon. In the meantime, I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on Mr. Jobs's resignation.

Mine? I'm a little sad. I wish cancer didn't have to touch as many lives as it does.

Jack dies. The earth moves.

Canada was rocked yesterday with news that Jack Layton, leader of the federal New Democratic Party, lost his battle with cancer. He was 61.

As leader of the perennial #3 party for the past eight years, he never became prime minister, never lorded over Parliament Hill, never tasted the ultimate pinnacle of power. His party, a somewhat left-leaning organization whose union-, family- and community-friendly policies often stood in stark contrast to the more fiscally strident focus of the Conservatives, has traditionally been just a little too far away from centrist to grab the attention of Canada's mainstream.

But here's the thing: Mr. Layton managed the impossible in a political career that spanned a generation and took him from Toronto city council to one of the most influential positions in federal politics. His everyman appeal and ability to relate the political process to the people it served helped him grow his party's fortunes during his leadership. The NDP served as an increasingly influential balancing factor in federal politics, a counter to the policies of opposing parties who often seemed to forget who they were serving.

Jack, as he was comfortably known, never seemed to forget. And it all paid off this last May when, in a stunningly historic victory, the party paved Quebec orange and became the official opposition for the first time ever.

I don't write this to be maudlin. I write it for perspective. Because as headlines screamed news of today's earthquake that touched most of the U.S. and Canadian east coast region, it occurred to me that some of us may have lost it.

Here's the bigger picture: On Sunday, a tornado destroyed the center of town in Goderich, Ontario. An employee at the Sifto salt mine, Normand Laberge, died as he tried to escape the lakeside boom crane he had been operating. Earlier this year, a magnitude 9.0 quake - over 1,000 times stronger than today's - and tsunami left 20,000 people dead or missing in Japan. Last year's Haiti quake (at 7.0, over 10 times as intense) left upwards of 85,000 people dead, a million homeless, and an already-decimated economy in an unimaginably worse shambles.

Somehow, watching office workers mug for the cameras that descended on the scene as they evacuated their buildings seems a little ridiculous given the real losses, large and small, faced by others. In the end, it was a harmless diversion. Let's define it as such, and let's move on. False drama doesn't become us. There's enough real drama - and real loss - to go around.

Your turn: Thoughts?

Thematic Photographic 159 - Vibrant

Filet O Fish
Saint-Leonard d'Aston, QC, July 2011

If you're a pessimist, the world can be an ugly place. If you're an optimist, it's gorgeous. It all depends on your perspective, then, and it's up to you - indeed, all of us - to look for the beauty. Otherwise, there's no telling what kind of incredible things we might miss along the way.

For the next week, Thematic asks you to share your most vibrant pictures. What's vibrant? It can be color, as you see here. Or it can be a person, a scene, a moment that moves your soul. As always, it's totally up to you to interpret the theme. I suspect this is going to be a fun one!

Your turn: Post a vibrant-themed picture to your blog/web site - or find one you've already posted online - and leave a comment here letting folks know where to find it. Visit other participants to spread the joy. Repeat as often as you wish throughout the week, and don't be afraid to pull in friends, families, and anyone else looking for some photographic fun. For more background on how Thematic Photographic works, please click here.

Not a snow globe

The purple vase of happiness
Quebec City, QC, July 2011

I thought I'd drop in another glass-themed pic before we move on to our new Thematic theme at 7:00 p.m. Just because.

Your turn: Where did I find this? How did they make the water purple?

Streetwalker

Here's looking at you, kid
Quebec City, QC, July 2011

Glass isn't just something we look through. Sometimes we use it to look at ourselves, as well. I'm guessing whoever mounted this decidedly modern piece of mirrored glass to this heritage building was more interested in preventing accidents and boosting security than in preserving the property in its absolute historic condition. I doubt mirrors were part of the landscape when warring armies fought in this place some 400 years ago.

But this entire stretch had been so lovingly preserved that it was easy to overlook the occasional concession to modern life. That a walled city - the only one in North America - can be such a vibrant home for homeowners and business owners alike is pretty cool in my book.

Your turn: If only this corner could talk. What would it say?

One more thing: It's not too late to share your own glassy vision. Just click here to dive in. New Thematic theme, vibrant, launches tonight at 7:00 Eastern.

To market, we must go

Looking toward an invisible sun
London, ON, May 2011

About this photo: If it's made of glass, we hope you'll share a similarly-themed picture of your very own. It's called Thematic, and you can get involved by clicking here.

I live in the other London, the one without the accent, the European cachet, or the riots. We're a sleepy, mid-sized Canadian city that's often only too happy to live in the shadows of its more famous namesake.

We don't have traffic jams, per se, unless you define such a thing as a dozen cars arriving at a red light at approximately the same time. We don't have any expressways within the city limits. Nothing is more than a 20-minute drive away. I can realistically bike across the city and be back home in time for breakfast. Okay, a late breakfast, but still.

It makes for a quieter lifestyle, but it has its costs, too, like a sluggish economy and limited business/career opportunities for some. Unlike the "real" London, or Toronto, a mere two-hour drive east, our economy doesn't grow as much as it staggers from one milestone to the next. We tend to rely on fading sectors - manufacturing and call centers, for example - and as a result now enjoy one of the highest unemployment rates in the country. When Dr. Oetker, a German pizza maker, announced plans to open a plant here a few weeks ago, the out-of-scale cheerleading from a civic administration desperate for good news, any good news, was more than a little bizarre. And sad.

London, Ontario, world frozen pizza capital. We're so proud.

A number of notable initiatives and groups are doing great work to turn it around and reignite this place as a center of non-all-dressed-with-mushrooms-on-top innovation and business excellence, but it's a long road and we're just getting started.

This is a picture of London's Covent Garden Market, one of the jewels in the crown of an earlier effort to anchor the city's future. Part of a number of big-buck projects designed to spark interest in redeveloping our crumbling downtown, it's become a go-to place for the slowly growing number of area residents and the corporate employees who still work nearby. It's also a great example of the kind of long-lead investment that spurs growth for decades to come.

I no longer work in the neighborhood, so whenever I find myself downtown, I try to make it down here to soak in the sense of community and wonder about what will grow next out of this much admired seed. This place remains under a consistent cover of clouds, but as long as enough of us continue to look to the sky in the hope of a better future, the London that everyone forgets will continue to be the kind of place we want - and can afford - to call home.

Your turn: What will it take to jumpstart growth where you are?

Polar bear in heat

He walks alone
Quebec City, QC, July 2011

Meet Eddy, the Quebec Aquarium's polar bear. He used to have a friend, Tiguak, but she sadly passed away in April. We visited him on a hot - about 30 C, plus humidity - sunny July day, and the paint scheme on the outdoor part of his enclosure notwithstanding, I couldn't help but wonder what he thought of the heat.

He would alternate between wandering inside, popping into his pool for a dip and, most poignantly, pacing back and forth on the ragged edge of the deck. It's hard to tell what he was thinking, of course, but staff members told us he's been doing this ever since he lost his partner.

I know that the raison d'etre of this incredible facility is conservation and education. But the sight of this magnificent, lonely animal pacing behind plate glass on a hot summer day made me more than a little sad. We sent him virtual hugs from our vantage point and hoped it was enough to cheer him up.

Probably not.

Your turn: Animals in captivity. Supporters say we need aquariums and zoos and the like to teach us all about animals, biology, conservation and the planet. Opponents say it's just plain cruel. Where do you stand? Why?

On fixing what ails us

"If everyone howled at every injustice, every act of barbarism, every act of unkindness, then we would be taking the first step toward a real humanity."
Nelson DeMille

Perhaps I'm overly influenced by the unnecessarily screaming headlines, but I'm sensing there's been a lot of unkindness floating around the planet over the past while, and I'm not entirely sure why. All I know is that this needs to change. Do you agree?

My $0.02 on HP, webOS and myopia

By now the geek world has had a day to absorb the news that HP is killing its mobile/tablet webOS platform, getting out of the hardware business and buying a British software firm, Autonomy, for $11.7 billion. The irony: The company pulled the trigger on the anniversary of its founding in a California garage.

What does it all mean? Well, if you ever had a PalmPilot, this marks the end of the line for Palm, which HP bought last year. And if you covet HP laptops - hello, The Office! - your next machine may very well be made by someone else. Beyond the personal/nostalgic realm, the implications extend right into the corner office.

Yahoo! Canada published my article, The HP verdict: investors win, innovators lose, today. Hope you enjoy it.