The Weekender: What Just Happened? A Year in Review-ish.

I was watching Batman Returns the other night (it’s a Christmas movie, okay!), and it seemed like it was rubbing the past year in my face with all the big budget gothery that Tim Burton is famous for. The plot sees the Dark Knight caught between a powerful woman trying to assert dominance in a male-crowded field with an annoying habit of coming back just when you think she’s gone, and a gross trust-fund brat whose disgusting inside and out, openly misogynistic, and wickedly obsessed with his own revenge and self-satisfaction who cons a beleaguered people into thinking he’s their hero. Sound familiar? Continue reading “The Weekender: What Just Happened? A Year in Review-ish.” →

Open Sources Show Notes for Thursday December 22, 2016

It’s Christmas week, and for Open Sources Guelph that can only mean one thing: our annual political movies special. This year, we put the emphasis on documentaries (and docu-dramas), which cover a variety of subjects concerning country music protests, failed political candidates, and fighting for a woman’s right to vote. It’s the holidays, so let’s put the issues on the backburner and dig into a big bowl of popcorn as we go to the movies. (Or the video store, or streaming site as the case may be.) Continue reading “Open Sources Show Notes for Thursday December 22, 2016” →

Open Sources Show Notes for Thursday December 15, 2016

It’s been about 18 months since we last held an #AskMayorCam session, so as you can imagine there’s an awful lot we could potentially ask the Mayor of the City of Guelph. So with the end of the year, and the end of the annual budget process at city council, the timing seem right to invite Mayor Cam Guthrie back to Open Sources Guelph for a bit of chat, a bit of reflection, and some questions from the listeners about what they think the important issues of the season are. Continue reading “Open Sources Show Notes for Thursday December 15, 2016” →

What’s Open Sources Programming for the Holidays?

It’s that time again for Open Sources Guelph to take some R&R at Christmastime, but that doesn’t mean we’re going to leave you hanging. In other words, while we’re going to be taking a couple of weeks off from the news, we will still be delivering new episodes, so gather the family ’round the radio and give a listen your favourite Guelph holiday tradition: the annual Christmas and New Year’s specials of Open Sources. Continue reading “What’s Open Sources Programming for the Holidays?” →

The Weekender: When is a Promise Not a Promise?

After the Liberals won election last year, some civic minded web builders thought, “Hey, Justin Trudeau and his party made a whole lot of promises in this campaign, why don’t we measure their success?” There’s been so much talk lately about promises broke, and promises seeming like they’re bring broken, I decided to check out the TrudeauMeter, and the score is 90 not started, 68 in progress, 37 achieved and 28 broken. It’s easy to understand the compunction. It’s only natural that we want to measure things according to their success or failure. It’s another way of saying something is good (successful) or bad (failure), but should be using something as subjective as campaign promises to be the judge of a government’s success? Continue reading “The Weekender: When is a Promise Not a Promise?” →

Open Sources Show Notes for Thursday December 8, 2016

We are a few weeks away from Christmas (and so is everyone else), and here on Open Sources Guelph, we got an early Christmas present. In Alberta, a conservative firebrand was up to his old tricks, getting the scorching rabble all fired about the current premier of Alberta in some very unexpected ways. This story will break up nicely our Royal City focus this week, first as we mark the passing of another political year in Guelph, and then we’ll have a conversation with one of the councillors that represents Open Sources HQ on the University of Guelph campus. Continue reading “Open Sources Show Notes for Thursday December 8, 2016” →

The Weekender: Why Are You Making Me Side with Gerry Barker?

About three people sent me the link in quick succession, and by the end of the day I had talked to maybe another three people in person about the fact that Gerry Barker was being sued by one of the City of Guelph’s upper managers. Barker, the erstwhile creator and provocateur of Guelph Speaks, has made it his business to talk smack about anyone at the City of Guelph, he thinks, make his taxes too damn high. Frankly, given his acid tongue and one-track mind, it’s a wonder that this is the first time someone’s taken Barker to court, but to be honest, as good as it feels to see him sued for half-a-million dollars, this isn’t the way to do it. Continue reading “The Weekender: Why Are You Making Me Side with Gerry Barker?” →