Personalities
Stars, celebs, killers and comics
Ode to All the Unsung Editors
Editors are the goalkeepers of the publishing world, saving many a writer from making heinous mistakes, or unclogging the constipated flow of a story, but they get little attention from readers and a whole lotta flak from writers. Paul Dorsey was not only a veteran...
Scribbling a Lament for a Guitar-Slinger Named Al Miller
Jim Algie pays tribute to his former bandmate, Al Miller, a kingpin of the Edmonton and Toronto indie music scenes, who taught him how to play the guitar solo in Teenage Kicks, among many other priceless favors. One of the hardest parts of aging is seeing my old...
Swan Song for Jon
I originally wrote this as a tribute to Jon McDonald on Facebook shortly after his untimely passing in early 2019. I’m posting it here as a tribute to the enduring influence of a man who continues to mean so much to so many of us. During my early years of...
Riffing on the Buzzcocks and Modern English in Mexico City
Jim Algie extols the virtues of breaking free from his maximum security comfort zone for a rocking trip to Mexico City, the biggest megalopolis in the Americas, to see the Buzzcocks and Modern English. . When Rhishja and I were doing our wedding party/honeymoon at...
Another Farewell to Another Fine Friend
For what would have been Melanie Klimchuk’s 60th birthday this year, which was commemorated by an event in Toronto, I wrote this appreciation of her and our four decades of friendship. In the early 1980s, I was hosting a music-comedy show on the University of...
Time’s Arrow: The Death and Rebirth of Martin Amis
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. That period also inspired a more recent novel called “The Zone of...
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...
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...
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