Author: James McNally

Pathological Liars Make The Best Journalists

The timing might be the most remarkable thing in this remarkable tale of New York Times reporter Jayson Blair, who fabricated many details of his stories. Strangely enough, I watched a profile on 60 Minutes last night of Stephen Glass, the reporter for the New Republic who also fabricated most of his stories. Glass has a new “novel” out called The Fabulist, and after five years of therapy, seems to be trying to make amends. Of course, none of his colleagues trust him…

UPDATE: I’ve also become aware of the story of Janet Cooke, a Washington Post reporter who actually won a Pulitzer Prize in 1981 for “Jimmy’s World,” a story about an 8-year old heroin addict. Two days after winning the prize, she admitted that Jimmy was fictional, a “composite” of other child addicts. She returned the prize, resigned, and faded into obscurity.

Some Running Links…

Here are some fun links I’ve found while developing my interest in running:

  • Endurance Online – a fairly new bulletin board community for endurance athletes (runners, cyclists, swimmers) that’s attractive and easy-to-use, a bit of a rarity, I’m discovering.
  • Run The USA – Two lunatics are running across the country with no support vehicle or any budget for accomodations. Can you give them a place to sleep?
  • Runner’s World – website for the excellent magazine
  • Hash House Harriers – a strange sort of running which involves chasing a “hare” (a runner who leaves a trail of flour or some other substance). Apparently, this sport has a long and storied history. These runners seem to enjoy the occasional drink 🙂

Run James Run

I realize I haven’t updated any of you on the running lately. We’ve completed five weeks of our ten week “Learn to Run” clinic at The Running Room. So far, I’ve really enjoyed it. In fact, I’m kind of hooked on running now. Our goal race is the Nissan Challenge 5k on June 8, but Brooke and I have also registered for the Pride and Remembrance 5k on June 28. In fact, you can sponsor me for that race online. I’ve created a little button over on the right side to make it easier to sponsor me. (American friends can rejoice that donating in Canadian funds means you can participate for as little as US$7.17).

Of course, being a gadget geek has helped keep me motivated. I’ve recently ordered a cool heart-rate monitor, the ECG5 from Sports Instruments. And I’m using a neat little OS X app called iRun to log my runs. I’ve always been a bit of a stats junkie. And it’s nice to see how much progress I’ve been making. In a little over a month, I’ve gone from a wheezing, shuffling old man to a, well, to a slightly more fit wheezing, shuffling old man.

So Long, Vince

On Friday, I went downtown to get my hair cut at the usual place, but noticed that my barber, Vince, wasn’t there. As I sat down to wait, I must have looked confused, and the other barber (it’s a two-chair shop) called me over. “I have something to tell you,” he said. “Your friend has passed away.” I was shocked. Almost two weeks ago, Vince had a stroke. I think he was about 65, and I was expecting him to retire in a year or two. His original partner had died about three years ago, and I remember feeling that loss at the time, but this is quite a bit harder. Vince had been cutting hair for almost 50 years, and mine for 15. We didn’t talk a lot, but I enjoyed my monthly visits. I was so upset that I just came home, telling the younger barber I’d be back in a few days. As a man, I think finding a good barber is something we take for granted. It sounds terribly selfish of me, but I’ll miss Vince the barber, whom I depended on, more than Vince the man, whom I barely knew.

Wild In The Streets

One of my favourite Toronto bands from the punk era is The Diodes. And recently I discovered that one of my favourite Diodes songs was actually a cover. The Shape of Things To Come was actually written by the well-known songwriting team of Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann, for a film called Wild In The Streets (1968). Reading about the film made me eager to see it, and also to hear the song as it was originally performed. Unfortunately, the film is long out of print and never came out on DVD. But thanks to Suspect Video, I was able to rent an old VHS copy, and this morning, I sat down to watch it.

While the phrase “so bad it’s good” comes to mind, it’s really not even that good. Though I laughed a lot, I’m not sure I was meant to. I’ve never really been a fan of “exploitation” films, so I’m not sure my criticisms will make any sense, but I think this is the sort of film that was made in the 60s to try to cash in on the youth market, while at the same time exposing some of middle-class America’s irrational fears of the youth movement.

Max Frost (Christopher Jones) is a 22 year old rock star, with his own entourage of druggy hippies (including Richard Pryor as drummer “Stanley X” and a guitarist with a hook for a hand!). After lending his support to Senate hopeful Johnny Fergus (Hal Holbrook), he somehow manages to get the voting age lowered to 15, and then has himself elected President. He quickly enacts legislation banishing everyone over the age of 35 to concentration camps where they’re permanently dosed with LSD. Very very weird. Oh, did I mention that Shelly Winters gets to play his shrieking mother?

I think this might be a good movie to watch with some friends while drinking heavily. Otherwise, it makes no sense at all. For instance, I had no idea that America’s youth were so interested in voting. And when they descend on Washington to demand the vote, they seem to have no other political issues to protest. There are no civil rights marches, no anti-war protests, just free love and LSD, babies!

And the songs? Well, let’s just say The Diodes rock.