Fall has arrived and Yukoners have all started to settle into our winter routines. This busy time of year seems like the perfect time to take over as editor of What’s Up Yukon. I’m excited for the challenge and have already had some great ideas sent my way, so stay tuned over the coming months …
On Monday mornings, I get up and check my email. If I have worked over the weekend, I usually only have 30 or 40 unread messages. If I haven’t, it’s usually in the 60 to 70 range. I start at the bottom and go through them, filing stories that have come in to copy desk …
Tamara Neely, the stalwart editor of What’s Up Yukon since October 2012, is having a kid. As assistant editor, I’ve watched her grow rounder month-by-month as the fetus inside her womb laid waste to the second trimester and dove into the third. And through it all she’s been there — packing her birthing bulk around …
It has been brought to my attention that the term, “Mount Ernie” is derogatory. Let me go on the record to say I have used the term, liberally, as a term of endearment. You see, I like the hill at Shipyards Park. I generally like parks with hills. I have many wonderful memories of having …
Those of you who took a cruise during the Spring Break raise your hands … not so fast, Hookey. But don’t feel sorry for me because I didn’t miss a thing. You all listened to gurgling rivers on those tropical islands and you marvelled at the beauty of salt-water fish … so did I. And …
This is where we have some fun. I will throw out a challenge and we will see how you, the reader, throw it back. I call this challenge, “Google Golf” because the lower the score, the better. Here are the rules: 1.Go to Google.ca. 2.Type in three words with plus signs in front of each …
AFFABLE SERVICE DESK GUY: Good morning, sir. How can I help you today? CUSTOMER: Well … I just got here last week, so I figured I better winterize my car. ASDG: Did you just come from Outside? CUSTOMER: No, I slept on your floor overnight … of course I just came from outside. ASDG: No …
THOSE WHO SAY YES, SAY: As computers become more and more sophisticated, they become more and more useful. And, the more useful they are, the more of a necessity they become. Some may wince at the word “necessity”, but they need to realize that computers can go to more websites than just YouTube and MySpace. …
Should employees be allowed to use work computers for personal use? Read More »
Those of us in the workforce who are over the age of 30 have one thing in common: we have nothing in common with those under 30. Those elements that are true in this sweeping generalization (crafted solely to offer a punchy lead) are a pity: we “old folks” should have more in common with …
THOSE WHO CHOOSE YOUTH SAY: Let’s face it: whomever you hire will likely be gone within five years. Workers are transient these days and that is not a situation that is unique to the young. However, a young person will not try to fool you into thinking they will spend a long time with you. …
Should I hire a young person or someone with experience? Read More »
I wish there was a church for atheists. Yeeeaaaahh, that’s going to need some explaining: I see church as a place of fellowship and a place to concentrate on values and good works. Being among like-minded people is nothing but positive and can only re-energize those who are stressed or confused. For the rest, it …
Some friends of mine have a beautiful home in Hidden Valley. From their hot tub on the back deck, they can bathe in the tranquillity of the Takhini River Valley and their own little garden. Inside, there are large windows that don’t need drapes for privacy, a multi-media room and a kitchen built for entertaining. …
I remember the first time I climbed a tree … and it is not because I got my knee caught and my father had to use the chainsaw to get me out … and my mother took a home movie of it all. I remember it because it was the first time I did something …
On March 1, I saw a headline on the front page of the Globe and Mail that gladdened my heart. It was, “This Spring, Real Men Wear Pansies.” The accompanying photo showed a guy with pansies printed on his shirt. Wow! This is wonderful! You see, there was another headline on that page that read, …
“Just words?” It is a rhetorical question Senator Barack Obama asked of Senator Hillary Clinton when she criticized his “flowery” speeches. The point was made that such words as “I have a dream” and “all men are created equal” have tangible power to affect the listener and cause a reaction. I would like to add …
As I behold my 18th spring in the Yukon, I have been spared the anxiety and frustration of previous disappointments that are collectively known as the plodding death of winter. It is not so much another year of maturity that has bestowed a calm upon my psyche, it is just the acceptance of things as …
“Paper or plastic?” has become a cliché for those no-win decisions we must make everyday: plastic is an oil-based product that chokes wildlife and is a blight on our streets while paper is a little piece of a living tree. Of course this question is often asked of me because, once again, I have forgotten …
As I watched Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama duke it out in the United States, I found I was getting more and more jealous of our American neighbours. Their political campaigns are much more exciting than ours. Theirs is a campaign of ideas and passion; ours is of the great struggle for the middle where …
Happy Birthday, Canada! You have come into your own these past 141 years, warmly regarded as a place of strong values, freedom and a sense of community taking care of community. Canada, you have never forgotten that you were born of the world. You have shed blood in wars that beat back that, which we …
It is the one thing in my otherwise stress-free life that is causing me anxiety. It is a Post-it Note with today’s date on it and “10 a.m.” I remember being aware of it about five days ago and, in the hurly burly of playing editor, only occasionally wondered what it was for. You see, …
by the Globe and Mail‘s Gary Mason A couple of years ago, I flew to Whitehorse for the opening of the Canada Winter Games. Prime Minister Stephen Harper was in town and, as a columnist with The Globe and Mail, I was sent to chronicle his time in the Yukon capital. It was my second …
A guest column: The Yukon’s peaceful, easy feeling Read More »
To get away from the rain here in Whitehorse, Daisy and I went to Vancouver for our vacation. I have used this line many times since I have returned. Every time, it is met with a wry and knowing laugh … then there is an awkward silence … and then a heavy pall of sadness. …
Did you know that new drivers in the Yukon need 50 hours of instruction before they can take their road test? I didn’t know that. All I needed to get my driver’s license, back in the day, was a Learner’s Permit, a working vehicle and high hopes. Today, not only do they need 50 hours …
It is not as if I am addicted to it, rather it is just that it is sooo available. That computer, with its vast assortment of websites to choose from and lightning-fast downloads, makes it so easy to get my, well, fix. Yes, OK, I admit it: I am addicted to the American election. It …
I am loving this controversy over arts funding cuts because it is one of the few times that smart, eloquent, passionate people stand up and declare their love for art and what art does for us as a society. However, I fear that the right wing of this country – represented by Stephen Harper and …
The cheery fire warmed Misty as she curled up in front of the fireplace while our Midnight Sun Muleskinner-blend coffee warmed our insides. Talk among these good friends was pleasant and engaging. So, of course, we were now talking about the shopping carts at Superstore. Jerome had been telling us how his parents would fill …
Finally, you sinners have reached that one special moment of the year when I consider whether or not I will forgive you for making my life less than pleasant. Anyone and everyone stands a chance as I have already forgiven the following in this annual feature: Stephen Harper, Paris Hilton, the English language, people who …
I met an old co-worker downtown the other day and, as luck would have it, I had a spare half-hour. Maybe we could grab a coffee and catch up? But I looked at him and I realized I didn’t really know that much about him and, more importantly, where he likes to drink coffee. In …
About six years ago, Fred Penner came to town and I was very excited. I was freelancing for the Yukon News at the time and I pitched the idea of a profile to my editor. Alas, it had been promised to someone else. But now I am an editor and, when I heard Mr. Penner …
In September 2008 I visited Scotland with Casey Lee McLaughlin. I was almost killed on the slopes of Ben Nevis and I nearly went to heaven in the Oban distillery, but before we made tracks for the highlands, we had a couple of days to kick around London. Sure, Trafalgar Square was neat and Buckingham …
Blessed be the good people at Tim Hortons and their Roll Up The Rim contest. If it were not for them, how would we Yukoners know it is spring. Indeed, how would we know we are still in Canada if it weren’t for the sight of these cups in garbage cans everywhere. It is true …
Q: What do Brian Fidler, Barbara Chamberlin and Harreson Tanner have in common? A: Those of us in the media often spell their names wrong. I, personally, have allowed two of their names to be spelled wrong in this paper and I remember the circumstances of each one because we editors (and writers) really hate …
I was watching one of the Sunday-morning news shows and heard something that crystallized, in my mind, what is wrong with the financial sector. A Republican (you need to pronounce it like I do by first drawing out the “Reee” just a bit, and then spit out the “pub!” and then tack on the “lican” …
Early in January, I received a press release that excited me greatly. It was from Yukon Energy and it announced it received $125,000 in funding from the Yukon Cold Climate Innovation Centre to investigate the possibility of generating power with geothermal resources. Ultimately, this could lead to a clean and green generating plant that will …
It almost happened. That one sickening moment when we Yukoners look out the window and say, “That’s it … no more.” It was the morning of Saturday, Feb. 7, when our drapes opened to reveal a wall of snow descending upon our homes, our vehicles and our driveways (our driveways!!). It started the day before …
(Part 2 of 2) Last week I began listing my favourite movies of all time. I only got to six of them and they all tended to be “guy movies”. There’s violence and there is male bonding and all of the things we stereotypical males enjoy. Yes, there are some excellent movies out there that …
Silly me. I thought the public wants intelligent discourse, all sides of a story and alternative, respectful arguments. So, I go to journalism school, I work for some of the best editors in the business and learn all that I can and I make mistakes (lots of them) and try to learn from each. But …
Guest Column by Tammy Beese I agree with some of the points made by Darrell Hookey in his column last week, “It’s worth the paper it’s written on,” on the troubling state of journalism today. Media business owners and the public do need to take some responsibility. But wouldn’t you say the journalist must also …
I remember back in the day when you could buy a great hamburger … a great hamburger as defined as a handful of meat, infused with Tabasco sauce — or a variety of secret family recipes — slapped into the shape of a patty and cooked over a flame. No two hamburgers were ever the …
If you are a lover of music, this is one fantastic week to be a Yukoner. Check it out: you have Justin Haynes, Jean Martin and Ryan Driver playing at the Old Fire Hall on Saturday; then Don Ross and Brooke Miller will be at the Yukon Arts Centre next Tuesday; and Fred Eaglesmith takes …
I don’t like to dance and I don’t know why. For many years, I just assumed it was because I’m a guy. To dance, you must feel the music; you must express yourself. I don’t like to dance and I don’t know why. For many years, I just assumed it was because I’m a guy. …
Rob Millar is my hero. He writes our Barbe-Yukon column which means, of course, he is an expert barbecuer. Right there, that makes him more of a man than I. If he and I were dropped into the middle of the forest and surrounded by AK-47-toting terrorists, I would draw on my army reserve training …
Back when I was a high school student, I faced a conundrum every time an exam came around. Do I study for it or not? It seems it happened every time: if I studied for an exam, the teacher would give us an easy one. If I didn’t study, that would be the time that …
May I just say this once and never have to revisit it again? I am not an alcoholic. Just because I don’t drink, it doesn’t mean I have a problem with alcohol … even on religious grounds. I just don’t drink. You would think that anyone would be thrilled to say such a thing. But …
I’m going on vacation soon and I am very excited. Daisy and I are going to Ontario to visit my side of the family, courtesy of a pair of free tickets from my Mom (not sure if that is an expression of her love or an expression of her distaste for air travel … either …
When the world thinks of Canada, they think of the Yukon. When Yukoners think of the Yukon, they think of Faro. When the world is thinking of Canada, they don’t picture an industrialized Hamilton or the concrete of Toronto or even the wheat fields of Saskatchewan. They are thinking of mountains and forests and lakes. …
As every Yukoner should, I have been following the debate over the Peel Watershed Draft Land-Use Plan. It is a debate that will decide what kind of Yukon we want to live in; it will decide how the world will consider us. I have formed an opinion, but I will not divulge it here because …
If you fear for the future – the future of a world threatened by environmental, economic and moral collapse – then I know just the tonic for you. Attend a high school graduation ceremony. You may be able to smell success, but “potential” has a feel. And that is what will overwhelm you when you …
Does it bother you when you see a parent spank their child in public? I think it bothers most people, but it is legal (to a point) and it is none of our business. But I would love to be able to get that parent’s attention for just one minute and tell them spanking is …
Yard sales are interesting places to observe human nature. The best moment is when you have to look the homeowner in the eyes and negotiate the price of that Password game. It says 25 cents, but you know that’s just the starting point. But you don’t want to come right out and insult the guy …
Laying out the paper is like a controlled plane crash,” my editor said across the table from me at A&W, pausing with a knowing-turned-quizzical look that seemed to say, You do know what I’m talking about, don’t you? No, I don’t, was the only realistic, albeit mute choice as my expression struggled to remain neutral …
Pride in Canada’s military has always been a dignified and understated series of gestures in my hometown of Trenton, Ontario. It is decidedly more important that Trenton provides a calm family life for those men and women whose business is war. More and more, Trenton has received the burden of receiving home the remains of …
Since I know, almost as a fact, that Trevor will not be put down by the Bylaw Services Department, I can sit back and enjoy this story as it unfolds. I know that Trevor is safe because I’ve been here before. I was a reporter in northern Ontario in the early 80s when some whales …
Where there’s smoke, there’s fire: an idiom seen this summer around Whitehorse. While it seems obvious, it’s amazing how frequently we miss the “smoke signals” in our lives or see them only in hindsight. And so, we have this saying that teaches a lesson … one to pass along to our children and our grandchildren …
It is a cruel trick of time that has punched me in the stomach and now I cannot breathe. I could have sworn that it was just last month that we brought Wren home from the maternity ward. I remember, so clearly, holding her close as I tried to use scissors to remove her ankle …
It is an occupational hazard of being an editor that you sometimes get paralysed over the meaning of one word. This week, the word was “power”. By definition, it means “the storing of energy”. The stored energy is a force that, when unleashed, gets things done. This leads to the secondary definition: “capability of producing …
This is a column for Cheechakos. Sourdough, you know this stuff. …February, March & April are your reward for November, December & January…
Back in Grade 12 I decided that my previously ordained career of choice would not be in the military. I was in the Reserves and had already had my fun and, besides, I hated having cold showers at 7 a.m. after running in combat boots for an hour. So, suddenly left with a decision to …
Que será, será … (but the internet has a test for that) Read More »
Last month marked a very important event in my life: I’ve been a Yukoner for 20 years. Of course, we all understand that I didn’t become a Sourdough until eight months later, when I saw the Yukon River break up. As a side note, I have never subscribed to this definition. Instead, I consider anyone …
As a young boy, I was sophisticated enough that, when given the choice of a chocolate bar or MacIntosh Toffee, I would always go for the “Mack.” “Chocolate” is a loose term applied to the covering around the nougat or some such filling that, when packaged in the shape of a bar, was called a …
I can’t remember when it began, but I had been noticing that the knuckleheads at City Hall were using street signs that cannot be read until you are right on top of the intersection. And homemade signs that advertised yard sales were mostly useless. Then, proving only that I am marginally smarter than a frog …
Sitting at a table in the Gold Pan Saloon, enjoying a reception for the Santa Claus Parade volunteers, I met some incredible young people who were new to the Yukon. They came here, without knowing anyone, and sought a “community” to join. None of them played sports and they didn’t work in large offices that …
Just as a reformed smoker is often the first person to complain about a hotel room that smells of tobacco, I shall now complain bitterly about today’s society misusing the word “cool.” “Cool”, as I understand and appreciate the word, originated from jazz music: the saxophone player doesn’t acknowledge the audience; he leans into his …
These iPads and Kindles gladden my heart as I see it as one more step toward re-establishing the written word as the king of communication. (You all know that I’m an editor, right?) I had worried when I saw the rise of television replace books, and the teleph one replace hand-written notes. I’m not that …
I can explain why I find it so fascinating: I don’t play online games, I don’t watch sports and I don’t read fiction. Why would I need to, when this health care debate had it all – strategy, an interesting cast of characters, winners, losers, twists, turns, deception, plot twists – and it all happened …
The weight of Misty, our 20-year-old cat, curled up on my lap, has never been felt more. She loves the fact that I work from home and, other than being in front of the fireplace or sitting in one of three windows that is being gloried with the sun, my lap is her favou rite …
I visited Germany once. My brother was stationed there with the Canadian Army and he was dating a German lady, Gabi, who is now my sister-in-law. Germany has the Autobahn, but she took us along slow, winding roads with achingly beautiful scenes of lovingly cared-for farms and country homes. We stayed in “pensions” and sat …
I feel sorry for the screeners who work for airport security. And it’s not just because they are forever in a no-win situation, where every commonsense decision to save someone hassle increases the danger on board the aircraft – “If we don’t take knitting needles away from the little girl, does this mean we need …
I have a tip, that is going to change your life. It is a game changer, it is revolutionary, you will wonder how you survived without knowing this, this …—what shall we call it from here on? … oh yes—tip. How much this tip will improve your life is not in question – profoundly, I …
It’s time for Spring Cleaning. But what is a guy to do, when he isn’t a pack rat and he keeps his few belongings well-organized? Well, everybody has that one place that is overstuffed with stuff. Consider it a “pressure release valve” if you will, since our consumer society forces stuff into our lives even …
It all started with one sink … It was a very nice sink for the bathroom that would have felt neglected, if a bat hroom had feelings at all, after heaps of praise were offered to our spa bathroom in “The Addition”. Daisy had been in Home Hardware when she saw the sink. With its …
I shall, from time to time, give to the readers of What’s Up Yukon information about the state of this arts and recreation paper. This lead paragraph was ripped off from Article II, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution because I feel such an examination of the stories we bring to readers is just as noble …
In 1992, I watched the Blue Jays play at SkyDome. This was the season they would win their first World Series and the stadium was finally filling up after 15 years. Sitting just beyond first base, I winced as a ball bounced off the tip of John Olerud’s glove, a very rare error for this …
Daisy and I received a very nice gift last month: it’s a book on walking. Hmmm, you know, I’ve always felt that my Mom and Dad did a good job of teaching me how to walk. Seventeen years later, their lack of follow-up and obvious lax standards were efficiently cleaned up by Sergeant Hannah. Indeed, …
These days, whenever I drive past Home Hardware, I throw my head back and laugh. You see, I am now a renter. Yup, most of my adult life, I have owned a home (well, the bank and I did) and, so, most of my adult life I have always needed to buy top soil or …
By the time you read this, I will sitting on my brother’s back deck where it is 40 degrees in the shade. My fiancé and I are heading to Arizona to tie the knot in his back yard as he and his wife stand up for us, and my niece officiates. And I know the …
As you are reading this, there is a different editor preparing the next issue of What’s Up Yukon, as I have stepped aside to allow some fresh blood to take this beloved paper to the next level. That editor is a friend of the paper, Elaine Corden, editor of North of Ordinary. She is filling …
It’s a walking, talking paradox … well, mostly it’s a walking paradox: If wearing socks with sandals is so wrong, why do so many of us do it? I like to think it’s because we Yukoners are soooo polite. If our tourists do it, whether it be from poor blood circulation, leaving them with cold …
I conclude that socks and sandals are fashionable … Read More »
June was a bad month to be a human. First, we all watched with horror as Armando Galarraga’s perfect game was stolen from him, at the 27th out, by … human error. Then we had the disallowed goal in a FIFA World Cup game that resulted in a tie between the U.S. and Slovenia. Both …
I met an expectant mother the other day and I asked if they had picked out a name yet. When she said, no, they haven’t, I tried to be helpful by suggesting that a good name would be “Darrell”. She received this assistance in the worst way: she didn’t call me a jerk (that can …
Mommas, don’t let your babies grow up to be Darrell Read More »
With the departure of What’s Up Yukon founding editor Darrell Hookey, last week (may he live out his retirement never again checking for typos), it falls to your guest editor to hold down the fort. You may remember me from my last stint here in June, when I filled in while Darrell was away on …
The wonderful ArtsNet list serve is many things: a notice board, a trading post, a soapbox. I’ve never posted anything on it, but the ArtsNet folder in my email program contains 4659 items at the time of writing. And that’s just the ones I either haven’t opened, or have marked as unread to remind me …
Some offers a person simply can’t refuse. When the email inviting me to be part of the What’s Up Yukon team landed, the cadence of Marlon Brando coming down the wire was unmistakable. The pressure was intense. How could I rush such a decision, to emerge from the indolence of semi-retirement back into the pressure …
Sometimes I wish I didn’t know how to read. No. That’s not true at all. I am endlessly grateful that I can read, and I wish everyone in the world had that privilege. What I should have said is that I wish I weren’t addicted to books. No. That’s not quite it, either. I wish …
The atmosphere contains sufficient quantities of oxygen, but very little moisture. It is amazing that anything can grow here. The vegetation is as fantastical as anything I have seen on any other planet, with spears protruding from many of the varieties. Comically strange creatures scurry from plant to plant, hugging the parched ground. Meanwhile, although …
Point your toes! Point your toes!” I yelled at Sam Edney. He likely didn’t hear me because my mouth was full of Bacon Ranch Pringles Potato Chips at the time. Or, maybe it was the fact that he was racing down the luge track in Whistler while I was shouting at him through my television. …
Have you ever had an American say to you, “Say, ‘eh’ for me”? They think it’s funny when we Canadians say, “eh”, and, being the good-natured people we are, we oblige them. We think of something random to say, put an “eh” at the end, but then it all comes out wrong; we just can’t …
In September of 2008, I was working construction in Edmonton when the bottom fell out of the economy. There were a few workers on my crew that were good enough to find work in a recession, but I wasn’t one. After spinning my wheels for a week or two, I bought a bus ticket and …
It all began on a Friday afternoon about a month ago. Well, not really. It actually began a month before that, with the decision to leave my motorhome in BC for the winter, rather than bring it up to the Yukon. Driving that thirsty beast the extra 1,660 km from Prince George to Whitehorse might …
My computer cheats at Backgammon. Let’s all ponder that for a moment. Pathetic, eh? But is it pathetic because I like to play Backgammon on my computer, whereas I could be conquering fantastical creatures in World of Warcraft? Or is it pathetic because I think my computer hates me so much that it would rob …
When the good folks at What’s Up Yukon asked me to fill in for their editor, Darrell Hookey, during his well-deserved honeymoon vacation, two things went through my mind. First, I had sworn many years ago that I’d never again work on a weekly paper. I had done it many years ago in Vancouver, and …
It was 20 years ago when computer screens flashed green letters, computer paper had sprocket holes along the sides and dinosaurs roamed the Earth. I was the operational manager of a K-Mart in those days and my boss was telling me we were to be visited by technicians to set up the new computer. It …
This method of choosing a mayor from an odd number of councillors is already allowed for in the Municipal Act, requiring just a bylaw.
