I was over-served at the Moose game and all I got was this lousy hangover.

Below is my journalism assignment from the Manitoba Moose game we went to last Tuesday.  I enjoyed "researching" and writing it. (The names have been changed to protect the intoxicated).  I hope you enjoy reading it.

_______________________________________________________________

“There's the green zone, the yellow zone and the red zone," said Brett Larson during the first intermission of the AHL game Tuesday night.

Larson, a supervisor at Moxie's Classic Grill at the MTS Centre, is not breaking down the offensive zone in the game between the Manitoba Moose and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.  He is reciting part of the save hospitality policy that Moxie's staff must adhere to.  The Manitoba Tourism Education Council's website (http://www.mtec.mb.ca/) explains that the Serving It Safe, Responsible Service and Safety Program provides information and training "to help staff and patrons stay safe in licensed establishments" in the Manitoba.  The colour coded zones listed by Larson represent classification levels of customer intoxication.

“People who come in after the Moose game are usually in the yellow zone. They’ve had a couple drinks, they are not quite in that ridiculous state yet (the red zone), but a couple more and they could get there,” said Larson, a Winnipeg native.

“There is always the worry of the (Manitoba Liquor Control Commission) coming in to make sure we’re not over-serving our customers,” said Larson, 27. This could result in fines or liquor license suspension.

At the end of the second intermission Kaleigh Sill is sitting at the Moxie’s bar, a bottle of white wine on ice in front of her. She visits Moxie’s after most home games with her boyfriend. Sill says she has never experienced any problems with people being over-served. “Everyone is here to have a good time. To have fun and get a little rowdy.”

 www.servingitsafe.ca explains that the goal of the program is to reduce alcohol-related problems. “The main concerns are impaired driving and alcohol-related lawsuits against both servers and licensed premises.”

“There is always that issue of people drinking and driving,” said Larson. He often asks customers, after they have had five or six drinks, how they are getting home, because if they are pulled over or crash, “we’re pretty much liable.”

Near the end of the game Mike Timmins is in Moxie’s, sporting a Winnipeg Jets jersey and drinking a beer. Timmins, a corrections officer, usually comes to Moxie’s between periods with friends for a quick drink because the beer is cheaper than at the MTS Centre. “The game tonight was quite awful so we stayed here for the third,” said Timmins.

At the end of the third period the final score is 2-0 for the Penguins.  But at Moxie’s the fourth period is underway, Timmins is going strong and threatening to break into the red zone. “Six beers tonight. And counting.”

________________________________________________________________

Soupy out.

Magazine Hangover

Well we survived the team magazine project.  Terryn, Robert, Anrea and I completed the first (and only) issue of Run WPG, a magazine for local runners about local races, trails and athletes.  Overall the project went well.  We worked well as a team, and got our content done on schedule (I just dropped it off at the printer this evening at quarter to five).  

We struggled most in the consolidating of our material.  Everything looked good individually, but we definitely underestimated the amount of work it would take to bring it all together into one cohesive document.  So we spent a lot of time last week formatting it for the pdf submission to Al on Friday.  Then we foolishly relaxed and took the weekend off magazine work thinking that it would only take an hour or so to pdf it for the printer and run off four copies of our "masterpiece."

Oh how wrong we were.  We put the "finishing touches" on it on Monday afternoon and sent it to the printer that evening.  We prudently ordered a proof and looked it over on Tuesday morning.  Well apparently some of our images were not linked properly and some of our fonts were not outlined and a lot of our text was way too close to the edge of the page.  I believe the term is "creep" -- when the outside pages of the magazine don't have as much space as the middle pages because of the thickness of the fold.  I vaguely remember Al telling us about that in the first week of magazine layout class, but when I realized he wasn't accusing me of "creeping" I tuned out.

So we spent this afternoon reformatting our magazine (when I say "we," I mean Terryn...thank you for putting up with my backseat indesign-ing, Terryn), linking all the pics properly and finalizing the proposal.  I dropped it off at the printers and will pick up the final (no matter what!) version tomorrow morning.

A couple big thankyous have to go out to the non-crecommers that helped us.  Darren Anderson, a good friend of mine, and technical coordinator for Manitoba Marathon, was a big help throughout the magazine project.  And he put me in contact with photographer Brian Hydesmith who was also great.  Aldo Furlan, the subject of one of my feature articles was also very accommodating.  Anrea's contact at Manitoba Runners' Association, Leni Campbell (no relation), also provided us with some great photos.  

See you at the magazine trade fair --Thursday March 31 at RRC Princess Street --the final hurdle of the magazine project. 

Soupy Out

Hypothermic Half Marathon Makes Winter Worthwhile

Well I participated in my first Hypothermic Half Marathon last weekend.  It is a half marathon in the heart of winter that is organized by the Running Room and Fort Whyte Alive.  I first heard about it last year and was quite interested.  In the last few years I have begun to run outside in winter.  I think it first started when I realized that the Assiniboine River trail that stretched all the way from the Forks to Assiniboine Park was merely a five minute jog from my front door.  Having a long trail like that so close to me made it a pleasure to run outdoors.  And the view of the city from the frozen river was a  perspective I rarely get.  So I found myself going for long runs along the river trail over the last few years, sometimes bringing my skates along and skating for part of the way and running on other stretches.  There is something very relaxing about exercising in the snow covered outdoors.  There is also something powerful about knowing that you should be cold but you're not.  Your exercise is what is keeping you warm.  Great motivation to keep moving really. 

So this year I decided to use the Hypothermic Half Marathon as my motivation to stay in shape over the winter. Since I am not playing recreational ice hockey for the first time in about four years I needed something to keep me active in the cold winter months.  And I have made it.  Here it is the first week in March and I am wondering where the cold months went?  I out ran them.  With the impending half marathon getting ever closer I was more concerned about getting in shape for it in January and February than worrying about how cold it was outside.  Whenever I had a free hour or two on the weekend or weeknight I would go for a run.  Often I wouldn't even look at the temperature before going for a run.  That can be a real de-motivator.  I would just judge by the frost on the windows if I needed to wear an extra layer. 

So last Sunday I was well prepared and really enjoyed the beauty of the day and the thrill of a little friendly competition.  Oh and the massive brunch that was served at Fort Whyte afterwards was nice too.  The event was run exceptionally well.  From start to finish.  The trail from Fort Whyte, through Assiniboine Park and back was well marked and well manned by volunteers. This is the only race that the volunteers are worse off than the people running the race.  They often have to stand in one place in minus twenty-something Celsius for up to three hours, probably longer.  I don't know how they do it?  And they manage to stay positive and cheer runners on.  As I ran past them I was applauding them in return, knowing that they probably needed more motivation than I did.  And the cooking and serving staff were friendly, hospitable and very generous with their servings of eggs, bacon, hash browns.  My plate was overflowing yet they still spooned more on at my request. 

Yes all in all it was a great race and a great day.  And training for it actually made for a better winter experience than I have had in many years.  Instead of staying inside and complaining about the cold I got out and used our city in all of it's frozen glory. And here I am in March looking forward to the Winnipeg Police Service Half on May 1st.  I guess I know how I will be spending my free time in March and April.

Soupy out

Twitter, Facebook, PR and Me...and You.

As I explained in a blog post from September 2010, I am pretty old school when it comes to online technology and social networking.  Before Crecomm my social networking consisted of chatting over beer, cheese and salami at the local community club.  If I wasn’t in CreComm I would definitely not be on Twitter and I might not even have a Facebook account. 

As for the difference between Facebook and Twitter:  I think of Facebook as a way of keeping in contact with people I know.  And Twitter is more about getting in contact with people or groups I would like to know.

I mostly use Facebook as a way to keep in touch with friends and family outside of Winnipeg – my brother James in North Carolina and my brother Peter in Indiana. Peter and his wife are expecting another baby at the end of this month and I am sure I will hear about it on Facebook first.  I also have cousins in Ireland and other friends abroad I have met on my travels.

As for Twitter, none of my family, or friends outside of CreComm use Twitter.  (Well that’s not true an Irish friend of mine just started following me on Twitter.)  So I definitely do not use Twitter as a social tool.  In fact I barely use Twitter at all.  I look at my Twitter account once or twice a week. I follow my fellow CreCommers, some news agencies, some TV shows, and people I admire or think are funny like comedians, writers and musicians.   And I only post a message in order to promote my latest blog.  Which, I know is not a good way of building relationships on Twitter. I really need to get on the Twitter bandwagon and use it more regularly and properly…that is interactively.

In terms of strategic use of social networking in PR I think you need to use all the options out there, Facebook and Twitter and mainstream media, because you never know where your audience is getting their information.  As I said most of my friends are not on Twitter.  So an online PR campaign using Twitter to reach a target audience of middle class people in their early thirties that drink beer, play sports, ride the bus, enjoy movies, art, travel and reading would not be very effective in reaching my friends.  Facebook would definitely be a better option.  And mainstream media like online news organizations would be better still.  Having said that I know there are people that fit into the above demographic that are on Twitter.  I just don’t hang out with any of them.  But it makes me wonder if my non-tweeting friends and I are in the minority of our demographic?  Or are we the norm?



Soupy out.

Publishing Options in The Year Two Thousand (...and eleven)

(You have to imagine me singing the title of this blog in a dark room with flashlight shining under my chin.)

The seminars by writers Julie Wilson and Matt Duggan at RRC recently really got me thinking about writing and publishing. (Ok, ok, I know that was the point but that was the best intro I could come up with as I ride the bus home on Friday afternoon.)  I am planning on doing a work of creative writing for my IPP and have not put enough thought into getting it published (frankly I have been too concerned about just completing it to worry about trying to market it). But I did do some research into marketing and it turns out a novella, which is about the maximum sized work we are recommended to undertake, is very difficult to publish. This is because they cost about as much as a full novel to produce, therefore their store price is comparable to a novel. But people don't want to pay as much for a novella as they do for a novel. They feel a little cheated by paying full price for such a skimpy book. (That is unless you are already a published author with an existing fan base- think Hemingway's Old Man and the Sea, although I believe he published that in a magazine first.)  

Based on my limited research partnering with other writers to publish a few novellas in one collection, an anthology, is recommended. Sometimes a publisher will find other novellas to include with yours in an anthology, or you can come to them with partners. It would be cool if a few of the Crecommers that are doing creative fiction could partner together to get their stories published. Although I guess they would need a common theme... other than that we are all Crecommers desperate to get our work published. That might be an idea if we decide to do self-publishing. A few novella's by Crecommers packaged together under the Crecomm banner might be a good selling feature, if only to other Crecomm grads. But hey, as we all know, the Crecomm network is vast.

Julie Wilson also inspired me to consider producing podcasts of my story and trying to market those. I have not looked to deeply into that but her discussion of the Best Laid Plans author's shameless yet unobtrusive self-promotion sounded like a skill all Crecommers need to learn.

And of course electronic publishing is something I will seriously consider.The Writer's Relief blog had this to say about e-publishing and novellas:


Because novellas are difficult to market as print novels, they have become very popular in the world of digital publishing. E-publishers are readily taking on novellas of all genres, and readers of e-books are on the rise. In fact, some e-publishers prefer novellas to novels because some readers of electronic formats prefer shorter books—and a good novella can pack a lot of story into a limited number of pages!

Soupy out.

Literary Voyeurs Unite Against the Tyranny of Winnipeg Transit!

The term "literary voyeurism," the inspiration for Julie Wilson's blog Seen Reading, makes snooping on the bus sound so intellectual.  Julie explained the cultural significance of literary voyeurism so eloquently during the seminar at Red River College today.  I tried to explain its cultural value to a middle aged woman on the bus ride home today, but she would hear none of it.  She had some choice words for me when she caught me pretending to drop my glove at her feet so I could kneel down and get a glimpse of the cover of her book. Her verbal assault is too rude to be repeated in this G-rated blog.  My well articulated side of the exchange, however went something like this: 

"Pardon me for staring...there's no need to bring my mother into this...  I'm doing a school assignment.  I'm a literary voyeur....No there' s no medication I take for it.  It's NOT a condition.  It's an intellectual pursuit....well I never!... Fine complain to the bus driver!  I stand by my creative calling.  Oh and before you get up.  Could you just tell me what page you're on."

Luckily I was removed from the bus without too much of a scene.  In fact, I would say overall it was a successful venture.  I got the author and name of the book, and before the bus driver and some "do-gooder" tossed me out into a rather unforgiving snow bank, I managed to tear a few pages from the woman's book.  And so here is my first Seen Reading entry.  (Any future entries will be dependent on whether the bus driver has the authority or the wherewithal to carry out his claim of seeing to it that  I  never ride another bus in Winnipeg again.  To him I say: "More senior members of the Winnipeg Transit Authority have tried and failed to get my bus riding privileges revoked!)  Enjoy.

Number 11 WB Portage Avenue

Caucasian woman, mid to late fifties, over weight, blue jacket with a hood with a furry trim, black pants, purple rubber boots, large glasses that were probably not even fashionable in 1982 when they were purchased or possibly stolen.  She carries a worn denim purse possibly containing a few rolls of quarters or some other hefty item that left a significant goose egg over my eye.

The Narrows, Michael Connelly (Warner Books)

Page 222:

My blood started to jump in my veins.  Clear, Nevada.  I had never been there but I knew it was a town of brothels and whatever community and outside services are spawned by such businesses.  I knew of it because on more than one occasion in my career as a cop I had traced suspects through Clear, Nevada.  On more than one occasion a suspect who voluntarily surrendered to me in Los Angeles reported that he had spent his last few nights of freedom with the ladies of Clear, Nevada.

Sometimes she thought about Fred.  He had sworn that he would be back.  She still remembers him promising.  He was cowered on the kitchen floor by the cabinets, blubbering.  She held the rolling pin high over her head.  She normally drove cross country with him, to keep an eye on him, but he was going south that time.  And since her run in with that US marshal in St. Cloud she could not cross the border.  So she let him go.  They needed the money.  But the son of a bitch never came back.  It had been almost twenty years and she still thought about him.  Hopefully he died in a fiery wreck, caught Chlamydia, or both.   

Soupy out

Darth Vader Masters the Force of Advertising

Here is a cute and funny Volkswagen ad.  A very effective commercial, which is something we are always struggling toward in Ad class.  (I can just imagine my Star Wars obsessed nephew under the Vader costume.)  It's also a good example of a video montage (which we have to do for our media production class later this month) on a shoestring budget.  And it's a great example of a dialogue-free script (which we are required to do for a creative writing assignment this week).  Enjoy.

Soupy out.