Stories From My Idols: Part II

Unlike Klosterman, who I sought out on my own after a good friend of mine threw “Sex, Drugs & Cocoa Puffs” at me in the high school cafeteria and said “Read this,” I did not come across this writer’s great work until my first year of university, when a journalism professor of mine recommended a reading of hers.

That article was “The American Male at Age Ten,” and much to the surprise of my professor, quite frankly I hated it. The story, that is, not the way that Susan Orlean magically transformed the character of Colin Duffy from a regular 10-year-old to one of the most interesting characters I came across that day. So, I opted to give Orlean another shot, she was after-all praised as one of the best magazine writers by this professor who I held in high regard.

As I continued to read more and more, I became fascinated with Orlean’s ability to take ordinary people, objects, characters, whatever, and transform them into something extraordinary. Her attention to detail, her ability to offer descriptions one would expect in a Cormac McCarthy or Stephen King novel, her research into seemingly knowing everything about whom she is writing, her wit, and her, as mentioned, ability to see beyond the scope of a normal journalist, and instead of finding something exciting, transforming a quirky nobody into a competitor for the Dos Equis man’s title as “Most Interesting Man in the World.”

Some of my favourite works by her include the story of a run-down south Boston neighbourhood turning the corner, a story about the most watched whale in the world, and perhaps the greatest, playing to the music-lover in me, a look at the Shaggs, an all-girl band from New Hampshire who, by ear are painful to listen to, but who Frank Zappa proclaimed as being better than The Beatles.

The piece I will leave with you today is none of the above, however, but instead the story of Biff Truesdale, a champion of the Westminster Kennel Club’s prestigious “Best Boxer” and “Best Working Dog” categories. It is a perfect example of how brilliantly she can turn a normal story about a showdog into something incredible.

So, please enjoy…Show Dog.

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The Newspaper That Almost Seized The Future

An amazing piece here – albeit very very long (took me about four sittings to get through it) – by the Columbia Journalism Review that looks into the San Jose Mercury, a newspaper that had a headstart on the electronic wave that has shaken the journalism industry.

The main character in the piece, Bob Ingle, was an absolute visionary for what the web could do for newspapers in bolstering content. Following a failed attempt at something called Viewtron, Ingle launced the Mercury Center, a home for extra content, online classifieds, and other important features.

Though it started out as something small in terms of extra content (transcript, press releases, etc.), Ingle grew the project over years, moving it to become one of the first on the World Wide Web, where they were then able to expand into a terrain now necessary, though not all that beneficial, to newspapers. These are things like adding audio content to accompany stories, running online classifieds (especially important in the booming Silicon Valley region at the time), and adding features that allowed the reader to have fast access to stories of interest to them.

Everything that we are still talking about newspapers having to do today – though today we talk about it on iPads and Tablets instead of on PCs – Ingle had the upper-hand on. That is the story of how the Merc almost seized the future, but ultimately, was unable to.

WLUSU Hopes Coffee Kiosk Will Aid Struggling Williams

From The Cord – Nov. 23, 2011

So, there are two copies of this story out there this morning.

There is, of course, the short one written for my beloved Sputnik, and then an extended version with some added tidbits which is published in our sister paper in Waterloo, The Cord. Please note the one below contains files from Marcie Foster, Lead Reporter for The Cord.

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The Wilfrid Laurier University Student Union hopes a new coffee kiosk on the Brantford campus will not only fulfil student needs, but boost business to the struggling Williams operation.

The Williams Fresh Café in Laurier Brantford’s Market Square, which is franchised by WLUSU, had a deficiency of over $111,000 for the year ending April 2011, according to documents obtained by The Cord and The Sputnik.

Compared to 2009 when the deficit was running over $220,000, the running deficit has been nearly halved in the two-year period. Yet, Williams still struggles financially, as seen by the six-digit price tag that it costs to run the restaurant.

In all, since its 2008 opening, the Williams at Laurier Brantford has ran up a deficit of $655,398.

However, members of WLUSU are optimistic that Golden Grounds, a new coffee and hot drink kiosk in Laurier Brantford’s Research and Academic Centre West building, will help boost business at the café. The coffee kiosk, set to open Dec. 5, is expected to generate a modest surplus of around $20,000 each year.

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Stories From My Idols: Part 1

“If you define your personality as creative, it only means you understand what is perceived to be creative by the world at large, so you’re really just following a rote creative template. That’s the opposite of creativity. Everybody is wrong about everything, just about all the time. But ANYWAY…” – Chuck Klosterman

Perhaps idol is a strong word, but then again, if those who sing on FOX three nights a week are considered idols, maybe it’s not all that strong. Likely influence is a better term, but influence doesn’t seem to roll off the tongue the way idol does. Idol – A person or thing that is greatly admired, loved, or revered. Well, I do admire Chuck Klosterman, I do revere him, I don’t know if I’d say love – I don’t think he’d like that much. However, Klosterman will always be one of my main sources of inspiration, one of the writers who helped push me into this uncertain terrain that is journalism.

Klosterman’s style is one that I try to incorporate into feature writing whenever the opportunity presents itself. His ability to paint pictures through his words, to establish connections between objects that many could see no relation whatsoever, and his aptitude in incorporating himself and his thoughts into the story are unmatched. I’ve spent countless days (weeks, months) writing random essays that attempt to make sense of the world which we are living in the same way Klosterman does, but after being thrown into the traditional newswriting mix, I haven’t experimented in years. Not since a summer spent living with my grandmother in southeast Ottawa where I worked ten to twelve hour days doing nothing but laying interlocking stone and sod, when coming home to write about the culture that surrounded me was what I looked forward to at the end of each and every day – along with my Grandma’s fantastic cooking, of course – have I picked up the pen in such a way. Yet, the desire returns every time I read a piece of his.

That is why tonight I present you with a selected reading of his, from Chuck Klosterman IV.

Please enjoy, McDiculous.

Under The Hood Of A Craft Brewery

From The Sputnik – Oct. 12, 2011. Also ran on the CUPWire.

The following story ran in The Sputnik October 12, 2011, and was picked up by the CUPWire. It’s about beer. Yum.

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The Grand River Brewing Company’s brewery does not look like much from the outside. Instead it looks more like something of an old factory.

The reason for that is simple: it was the old home of the Galt Knife Factory. And though remnants of the old factory still remain both outside and on the interior, significant changes have been made to sway the focus of production inside the building to one thing: beer.

How it’s made

Zac Tremaine, the assistant brewmaster with Grand River, explained the process in which the delicious beverage known as beer is actually made.

The first stage of the brewing process is to prepare the malt, or as Tremaine called it, the “backbone of your beer.” Depending on the style of beer being created, such as a lager or an ale, different amounts and types of grain are loaded into a machine called a mill. Bright yellow and resembling a wood chipper, the mill crushes all of the grains. There is usually one constant grain that provides most of the foundation for all beers, and then specialty grains are added to create different flavours and colourations.

The rollers of the mill open the husks of the grain but leave the body intact, and the grains are then augured into a mash tun and mixed with warm water. Once the proper temperature is reached, the grains sit for an hour to attain starch conversion.

After the hour is up, something called wort has formed at the bottom of the mash tun. Tremaine defines wort as “the sweet and malty liquid that forms the foundation of beer in your glass.” The wort is circulated to the top, and then the brewmasters lauter the beer, meaning they separate the wort from the grains and move it to a kettle.
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Laurier Expansion Delayed By Gov’t Policy

From The Sputnik – Sept. 5/2011

Moratorium. Its definition according to Webster is rather simple: “A suspension of activity.” To Wilfrid Laurier University, its definition is much more than that. It’s a roadblock in the way of expansion to Milton.

Expansion to Milton has been a hot topic for conversation among those in the Laurier community, but the production of a policy by the Ontario government has caused a delay in any thinking of building.

Instituted by the Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges, and Universities, the new policy being developed changes the procedures for post-secondary institutions, in the largest way, by giving the province the final say in where satellite campuses will be built, and by which host institution.

“This will ensure tax dollars are allocated in an effective and responsible manner. Of course, the province recognizes that, for many municipalities, having a postsecondary institution in the community is important for economic and regional development,” said Tanya Blazina, a spokesperson for the MTCU.

“That said, the province also needs to strike an appropriate balance between community and institutional aspirations and the province’s direction around capacity, growth and the need to expand postsecondary education and training in areas of the province that are needed the most,” Blazina continued. “The formal satellite campus policy will be aligned with the province’s growth plans. Under MTCU’s new satellite campus policy, decisions on the location and host institutions will now be made by the province.”

Knowing that the university will now have to pitch a bid, Dr. Max Blouw, Wilfrid Laurier University’s President, says the school is now in the planning stages for such a bid.
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