* From the January 2005 issue of Toronto Life, specifically the David Macfarlane profile of David Miller (which Lynn Crosbie yesterday described as a "hot-oil massage"):
When the teachers and students of Lakefield voted for head boy, the results were by no means as predictable as they might seem to a retrospective observer now….. There were other candidates who appeared to have a more obvious claim to the position. But when the tally was made, Miller had won overwhelmingly."We were all somehow surprised," recalls his friend and former classmate Nick Lewis, now a Toronto investment banker, "but somehow not surprised."
Toronto Life employs many talented editors. How did that unquote slip past every last one of them?
* Remember last year, when Robert Fulford attacked Edward Greenspon’s Saturday ramblings? ("Greenspon’s ‘Letter from the Editor,’ which appears in a prominent position on Page Two, may be the most spectacular example in current Canadian journalism of a bad idea badly executed…. Editorial problems may excite him … but they’re no fun to read about. They’re dreary, even for people in the business.") Well, Greenspon has been MIA from the Globe for the last two Saturdays. I was somehow surprised to see that Greenspon decided to retreat, but somehow not surprised.
* A more serious MIA is the entire Review & Books section of the Saturday Post. I was somehow surprised to learn about the latest cost-cutting measure, but somehow not surprised. I am disappointed, not only because books editor Liza Cooperman was doing a great job, but because this means the Globe now has even less reason to innovate within the dreary little pages of LevinLand.
* Two articles about Bright Eyes in less than a week from Carl Wilson in the Globe. Wilson has a phenomenally sharp mind and an excellent blog. The repurposing seemed strange, since Carl is not someone to fax in his column. Granted, the article in Seven was a preview of the Bright Eyes show, while yesterday’s column was a reconsideration of the indier-than-thou economy of indie rock. So the articles were different but yet fairly similar. Still, I was somehow surprised to see this happen, but somehow not surprised.
* This is good, I mean really good Walrus-bashing. As critical as I am of the magazine, I was somehow surprised to see this happen, but somehow not surprised.
