Posts with the Toronto Star tag

Barris Beat

Drinking, more or less

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My wife queued up at the grocery store the other day, she told me. The cashier began tallying her purchases, but then hesitated. She said she wasn’t qualified to process the purchase of beer and had to call on another cashier qualified to check through beer and wine.

“Does it matter that the beer is zero alcohol?” my wife asked.

“Oh, I see,” the cashier said.

And the person next in line at the cash behind my wife piped up, “Mine are zero-alcohol too,” he said.

Is it just our imagination, or has all this talk about the link between alcohol and cancer sparked a sea change in the habits of casual drinkers? (more…)

Barris Beat

The black and white of grey

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CTV – where grey “business decisions” attempt to obliterate black and white.

First, I welcomed the opportunity. The CTV producer invited me on spec to come up with an idea for a show featuring prominent Canadians. At the time, back in the 1980s, as a freelance writer I made much of my living pitching ideas without payment on the chance if the broadcaster liked the idea, I’d win a contract to write the script. So, I massaged the prominent Canadians idea into an outline, presented it to the producer and asked for a contract to write the show.

“We’ll have to see what the budget is,” he warned.

“When will you let me know if I can write the show?” I asked.

“After we’ve budgeted for the guests and the paint for the set.” (more…)

Barris Beat

How do I get to Yorkville? Practise!

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Friday afternoons in the mid-1960s had a special rhythm for me. While most of my high-school pals gathered in the corridors to plot their party plans for the weekend, I left class early to catch the Sheppard Avenue bus west from Agincourt. With my trumpet case in hand, about 5 o’clock I caught the southbound Yonge Street bus, then the subway from Eglinton to Bloor. And then I walked west on Yorkville Avenue into what everybody called “the Village.” There, just before Avenue Road, I climbed up a back-alley fire-scape staircase to a third-floor rehearsal studio.

“Hi, Donny,” I’d call out to my trumpet teacher Don Johnson.

“Come on in and warm up that horn,” he’d tell me.

It took me a few visits in 1965 to discover I had climbed to the top of a Yorkville landmark, and an even more important music mecca. (more…)

Barris Beat

Summer for women

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Marie-Philip Poulin – Captain Canada scores the winner! Toronto Star

On Aug. 31, I joined my daughter for an event to remember. Canada’s women’s hockey team faced its arch rival – the Americans – in a three-on-three overtime period in Calgary for the International Ice Hockey Federation world championship. Just over seven minutes into sudden death, team captain Marie-Philip Poulin broke in on the U.S. goal and put a wrist shot off the crossbar down into the net for the victory. The Toronto Star interviewed former Leafs goalie coach Steve McKichan after the game.

“That’s the Hall of Fame bardown shot in women’s hockey,” and he went on to say in the history of greatest Canadian hockey goals, “it was top-five.” (more…)

Barris Beat

Non-essential travel, the real antidote

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Iconic nomadic life in a van. eTags.com

As we all find ourselves craving to talk to somebody and do it at close range, I bumped into a friend outside the grocery store recently. And we got caught up. First things first; we made sure we were both double-vaccinated. Then, we lowered our masks, so that we didn’t sound like we were mumbling, kept our distance, and began to catch up on each other’s lives.

“Everybody well in the family?” I asked.

“Yup,” she said. “All doubled-vaccinated, including away-from-home kids.”

“I noticed you sold your house recently. Are you leaving town?”

“We’re leaving everything,” she said. “We’re going to try the nomadic life.” (more…)

Barris Beat

Where news comes from

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Lisa LaFlamme at the CTV News desk each night.

It’s the last thing my wife and I do each night and nearly the first thing each morning. It’s been that way for nearly 50 years. We turn off the light at night and wake up each morning in sync with broadcasters and their newscasts. At 11:30 p.m., Lisa LaFlamme says:

“That’s it for us at CTV News. Have a good night.”

Then, each morning at the top of the hour, we catch Nil Köksal introducing us to, “World Report…” on CBC Radio. (more…)

Barris Beat

Fairness or bust

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Statue of Ryerson toppled in Toronto, June 6, 2021. BBCNews

It started with registration and Frosh Week in September 1968. I was so eager to attend the school I even lined up at the bookstore to buy a jacket with his name “Ryerson” arched across the back. Three years later, I reached a milestone there when I received the certificate signifying that I had completed all my courses in broadcast journalism. But I returned a few years later, when Ryerson had become a degree-granting institution, completed the makeup courses, and stood in line again to receive my BA in 1976.

“By virtue of the authority granted by the province of Ontario under the Polytechnical Act, 1962, Ryerson has awarded the degree Bachelor of Applied Arts to Theodore Barris,” the document said. Next to my name, a seal with the bust of Egerton Ryerson embossed on the degree.

I thought of that seal, and that bust, Monday morning, as I learned that demonstrators in front of the main gates of Ryerson University in downtown Toronto had toppled the statue of the institution’s namesake. (more…)

Barris Beat

How to pay for paid sick days

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Premier Doug Ford isolating away from the Legislature at Etobicoke home. CPAC photo

It’s been seven days since the premier apologized to Ontarians. It’s been 13 days since he did what he apologized for – unnecessarily closing outdoor recreation facilities and giving police the power to randomly stop citizens during the stay-at-home order. And it’s been nine days since Doug Ford went into self-isolation at his mother’s home in Etobicoke, after a member of his staff tested positive for COVID-19. In other words, the premier has not physically served in his office, nor at the Ontario Legislature since a week ago Tuesday.

In other words, technically, Doug Ford has not been at work.

He continues, of course, to be paid… which means Premier Doug Ford is getting paid for sick days!

That means the premier has received nine days of his annual salary – about $5,148 of his $208,974 annual income – all against the stated policy of his own administration. (more…)

Barris Beat

Deal with the vaccine deserts

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Vaccine rollouts are missing the so-called vaccine deserts for the other less populated hot spots. healthing.ca

Earlier this week, a delivery van pulled up at my neighbour’s house. The driver hopped out of his vehicle. He was fully masked and went to the door, kept his distance, and ensured that the package was delivered into the right hands. He then photographed the street address of his delivery and was walking back to his van when we exchanged greetings.

“Pardon me for asking, but have you received a COVID-19 vaccination yet?”

“I don’t mind,” he said, “but no, not yet.”

“I’ll bet you do dozens of deliveries a day and run the risk of either being infected or infecting others,” I suggested. “Don’t you think you should’ve had a shot by now?”

“Of course, but the company hasn’t made it a priority.” (more…)