Alex Reid

Here is a cool visualization of what a budget of billions actually looks like “visually and relatively“.

Paul Pritchard, who video recorded the scuffle between RCMP and Polish resident Robert Robert Dziekanski at the Vancouver Airport two years ago, has won an award from the Canadian Journalists for Free Expression.

The award is the first-ever for citizen journalism.

The video has handed over to RCMP at the time with the promise that the video would be returned within 48 hours; a promise that was later reneged. It wasn’t until Pritchard began legal proceedings and participated in a press conference when he feared “police cover up” that the RCMP returned the video.

Pritchard then sold the video to CBC, CTV and Global for several thousand dollars. The video contradicted what the RCMP initially said about the incident, and began a national outrage and later an inquiry into the incident.

“Without the tape we wouldn’t have had the journalistic investigation, the year-long inquiry into the incident, and we wouldn’t have seen the safer use of the taser by police departments across the country,” said Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE) President Arnold Amber.

“The remarkable partnership between investigative journalists and the citizen who recorded the last minutes of Dziekanski’s life has led to all these revelations and impact.” Amber added “What he did probably will save many other lives down the road.”

After having the Winnipedia project dead in the water for a little over a year, I decided to take the site offline pending a re-tooling. In the meantime, I am proud to say I’ve been recruiting some history buffs to get involved, but we need more buffs! (heh)

If you’re interested in Winnipeg’s rich history and you’d like to meet others with the same interest, email me at alexATalexreid.ca (replace AT with @).

Documentaries are good.

Especially those that focus on the local institutions of a community; that ’something’ that supports and fosters a subculture of the community. The Royal Albert Arms is definitely that ’something’ worthy of praise, and Randy Frykas captures it in his new doc Call to Arms: The Story of The Royal Albert.

“The Royal Albert is of a dying breed”, says Producer Jeff Newman.

“Most of the world’s legendary punk clubs have closed their doors, and with each one a piece of music history is extinguished. It’s time to talk about how important the place is, the careers it’s launched and the culture it preserves. At The Albert, people feel a sense of belonging and they’re utterly passionate about it. There’s a sense of ownership among the bands and the fans that comes across so clearly in ‘Call to Arms’.”

Check out this new doc at The Royal Albert this Thursday, October 8th – doors open at 8pm, screening is at 9pm, and tickets $5 at the door.