Finally got around to editing another portion of the Europe trip Laura and I took last summer. Barcelona! It’s over on Junior Pigeon. Check it out.
Thoughts on The Hunger Games
I don’t have a whole lot to say about The Hunger Games, but it won’t fit into a tweet, so I’m putting it here.
I tweeted that there was something about the writing that was weird to me. I think it was that the world felt uninhabited, to me. Like mannequins being used in a movie to fill out the crowd shots or having cardboard backgrounds. For instance, in the scene where Katniss has to show her stuff before the Gamemakers, not a single one of the Gamemakers is described. We don’t know how many there are there. We don’t see a single reaction from any of them, other than “people stumble back” and “a few are nodding in approval”. There’s no image. It’s just a vague sense that there are people there. It’s supposed to be kind of a big scene, I think, but it has no weight to it. We don’t see any monocles dropping from eyes. So that’s my main problem with the book: Big moments fall flat and/because the imagery is nonexistent a lot of the time.
I think it’ll make a better movie than a book.
Now I will read Catching Fire.
Environment Canada’s secret quiet little budget cuts
My first story for OpenFile Halifax is about Environment Canada’s much-criticized budget cuts. EC is trying to keep things quiet, so they’re not letting their scientists talk, and they’re hardly talking, themselves.
I can’t tell you how many times I heard “The environment remains a priority for the Government of Canada, even in times of fiscal restraint.” That quote could be attributed to Mark Johnson, Environment Canada spokesperson, or Peter Kent, Environment Minister, or even Michelle Rempel, parliamentary secretary to the environment minster. Although Kent says the environment remains a KEY priority, while Rempel says the environment is a STRONG priority, and to Johnson it’s just a priority. Dissent in the ranks.
Anyway, check out the story HERE and check out the other stories (which are great!) HERE.
Also: OpenFile is community-powered news. So if you have a question about something in your neighbourhood, or think there’s an issue that’s underrepresented in the news, open a file.
Also also: If you have a question about a story, post a comment. Part of the job, after the story is posted, is answering comments.
