Personalities
Stars, celebs, killers and comics
Martin Amis and Time’s Arrow
Upon the passing of the noteworthy author, Martin Amis, Jim Algie recalls his favourite novel by him, Time’s Arrow, which unfolds in reverse and leads back to the Nazi death camps. We live in a world of hyperlinks which bespeaks the Buddhist belief in the...
Bidding Adieu to Gordon Lightfoot, a True Troubadour
Jim Algie salutes Gordon Lightfoot, a true Canadian titan, who wrote some of the only good songs on AM radio when I was getting into music. In the early and mid-70s, Gordon Lightfoot was this lighthouse whose vision and voice were so powerful that they illuminated...
Algie Bloodlines: From Italy to Mexico in Five Centuries and Back
Jim Algie looks back on some of his family history that dates back to Italy, where his distant ancestor worked as a scribe for the Vatican. Words and pics by Jim Algie. Many towns and villages in Mexico are named after Catholic saints. Our patron is Saint Catherine...
Ode to All the Unsung Editors
Editors are the goalkeepers of the publishing world, saving many a writer from making heinous mistakes but most of the time they are overlooked. This ode sings their praises. It’s also a requiem for a veteran editor named Paul Dorsey. During late October and...
True Crime Show Zeroes in on Thai Serial Killer Who Targeted Masseuses
After a convicted serial killer dubbed Thailand’s “Jack the Ripper” was released from jail in 2019 only to kill again, Jim Algie looks back at a true crime show from 2013 called “The Masseuse Murders” which chronicles his deadly exploits....
Debut Album by Steven Bradley Kravac: Timeless Pop Songs for Ageless Rockers
The debut solo album by Steven Bradley, who has spent much of his music career as a producer and sound-man and backing musician, reveals the harmonious benefits of staying power in a youth-crazy business. Many middle-aged people are content to either rest on their...
The Strange Ballad of Evan C. Jones: a Tribute/Obit to and for the SNFU Drummer
A pioneer of hardcore punk drumming and vital member of the Edmonton music scene, Evan lived fast, died middle-aged and left a small yet sound legacy. Evan C Jones cracked me up and bewildered me right from the first time I met him until our last message exchanges on...
Remembering Mr. Chi Pig: the High-flying, Low-Falling Frontman of SNFU
The passing of the cult-famous punk singer of SNFU last year inspired a torrent of online tributes from fans, critics and musicians like Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day, but few of them came from those who first knew him as a teenaged skateboarder from Edmonton....
Thailand’s Last Executioner: Obituary for a Kindly Killer
What sort of cold-blooded executioner leans over a sub-machine-gun bolted to the floor, takes aim at a target on a white curtain in front of a condemned man strapped to a cross, and then pumps 10 to 15 bullets into his back? A family man, a rock musician, an altruist,...
Suicide Notes on Anthony Bourdain, Chris Cornell, Kevin Hines and the Middle-Aged Plumber Down the Street
On the first anniversary of the passing of Anthony Bourdain, Jim Algie looks at the spiking suicide rate in the West and how a man who survived a leap from the Golden Gate Bridge is leading a revolution in suicide prevention and awareness. My brother and I were nine...
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