The elevation of lying

“All the lies — I can't even keep them straight in my head any more.” These are the words of Walter White, played by Bryan Cranston in the television drama, "Breaking Bad." White's character is a teacher turned meth dealer whose life becomes one big illusion after he is diagnosed with lung cancer. The show has received widespread …

CIFF 2012: Behind-the-scenes but no less talented

In the super-hyped world of so-called "reality" TV shows, the most talented singers, dancers and entertainers always triumph at the end of the day. The unsuccessful contestants on everything from America's Got Talent, The Voice and any number of similarly-scripted shows, are either not talented enough or just not ready for stardom. But what if …

CIFF 2012: Canadian film is “ferociously” good

Saskatoon just lost its film innocence. And it was not pretty. (View the trailer here.) The picturesque, prairie city is the setting for Calgary filmmaker Robert Cuffley's latest psychological thriller, and "Tiny Town" as it is referred to in the film, never looked so dark and seedy. Most of the movie takes place in a …

Houston inspired a generation — and still does

We've seen our share of celebrity deaths recently. The death of Amy Winehouse hit me pretty hard, I was a fan and I wrote about it here on my blog. But after hearing about Whitney Houston, I suddenly feel like I've been hit by a truck. It's not that I was a particularly big follower of …

An old game’s revival: Winning and losing your marbles (From June 11, 1986 issue of the Fort McMurray Express newspaper)

From the archives: One of the first feature articles I ever wrote while working for the weekly newspaper in Fort McMurray, called the Fort McMurray Express. ******************************************************************* How the circle goes round and round? In recent years, young consumers have been bombarded by a barrage of high tech toys, computers, designer dolls, war games and …