October 1, 2009
After it’s rejection a whole season ago in June, my cartoon of Copps Mausoleum finally got play on the front page in its full colour majesty.
Hamilton
May 6, 2009
There’s been a big deal made by my paper about the lack of politicians who’ve accepted invitations to attend the second annual summit of what’s been dubbed the Hamilton Economic Summit. Editors here have decried the fact that only one area Parliamentarian (Sophia Aggelonitis, MPP) will be there, and that half of the city’s Councillors will be doing other stuff, like flipping burgers for charity (ie: Maria Pearson).
Other commentators, namely, Raise the Hammer, have sided with Councillor Sam Merulla’s reason for not attending because of costs and the fact that it’s hosted by the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce, which he calls a “lobby group” which along with the invited participants only represents the old-boy ivory tower corporate types.
I think there’s some validity to the arguments made by both sides, but in my view, as the cartoon suggests, another day of earnest chit chat about economic development in Hamilton in the midst of a recession is simply naval gazing. There’ll be hand shakes, platitudes, and back pats amongst the heavy wafts of after shave cologne as the usual suspects of the city’s movers and shakers class bather over finger foods and zone out during predictable presentations. There’ll be little acknowledgment that when it comes to economic development hardly any of it would be possible were it not for us being a chronic municipal welfare recipient of higher levels of government.
Meanwhile, something much more sensational than charting economic frameworks, and other eye glazing wishful promises set to be declared by this group, will emerge with the latest news that Jim Balsillie is once again trying to salvage a bankrupt southern U.S. NHL franchise and move it closer to this city.
If there’s any legs to this story, the economic development that could potentially come to this city from an NHL team will be way more than whatever the usual suspects of Hamilton’s brain trust come up with at the end of today.
Saturday April 25, 2009
Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday April 25, 2009
Priests of pot lose their church
Michael Baldasaro and Walter Tucker are closing up the Church of the Universe.
The organ has to go. Baldasaro’s bed has to go. The books in the library have to go.
This weekend, Baldasaro, 59, and Tucker, 75, will close the book on their “church” on Barton Street East that was seized by the Crown last year and sold as a forfeited asset.
“We lost our church and university all over $70 worth of pot,” Baldasaro said yesterday.
“The building is already sold, but the judge said … we could go in April 25 to 29 and clean out all our stuff. But we have nowhere to put everything.”
Baldasaro and Tucker are “archbishops” in the Church of The Universe, where they worship the Tree of Life, straight from the Garden of Eden.
And the tree is good, especially because their “sacrament” gets them high.
To some, they are unrepentant lawbreakers. Others call them the happy hemp brothers of Hamilton.
The convicted pot priests are supposed to be headed behind bars, but are out on bail awaiting the outcome of various appeals. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)
March 30, 2009
I’ve said in past blog entries that often the only feedback I ever get on any of my cartoons is whenever somebody has taken great offense to whatever I’ve drawn and feel the need to convey their anger to me.
My most recent cartoon focusing on the sad saga of Hamilton’s City Hall reno drew the ire of a close relative to the architect of the building, Stanley Roscoe, who phoned to ask what gives me “the nerve to be an architectural critique”.
What gives anyone the right to be an architectual critic? Are only learned experts of the field entitled to pass judgement on architecture in high brow periodicals? Can’t the unwashed masses who can’t tell a cupola from a corbel air their own feelings about the concrete monsters they have to share this planet with?
Anyway, I’ve posted the original sketch I was going to go with and tempered the farting base ass imagery with a giant toilet. My apologies for the loooong gap between blog entries. I’ll keep trying to keep this thing up to date.
Saturday March 28, 2009
March 28, 2009
Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday March 28, 2009
City Hall’s marble: A short history
Glorious architecture gallery
* There are 3,000 marble slabs totalling 30,000 square feet covering City Hall. They measure approximately 60 centimetres by 120 cm.
* The gold-veined Cherokee marble used at City Hall was quarried in Pickens County, Georgia, the same county that produced the marble for the statue of Abraham Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial.
* In 1958, architect Stanley Roscoe caused an uproar when he chose Georgia marble instead of stone from Ontario or Quebec. He said the design at City Hall was predicated on the use of the white marble. After much debate about whether local stone should be used, city council approved the use of Georgia marble by a 13-6 vote.
* The first shipment of the Georgia marble was deemed “unsatisfactory” because it was the wrong colour. Roscoe paid a visit to the quarry in late 1958 to ensure the rest of the marble was up to standard.
* On May 16, 1960, the day City Hall opened to the public, two marble slabs fell from the building. One, which weighed 275 kilograms, crashed onto the roof of the second floor. The other landed on the second-floor canopy. The problem was blamed on “faulty craftsmanship.”
* On Feb. 6, 1963, two more slabs fell after water seeped behind the marble and rusted the metal hooks supporting the slabs.
* In 1969, when council allotted $136,000 for repairs to the marble, city architect Alex German suggested taking down each marble slab, “making them into coffee tables and selling them. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)
Letters to the editor:
I’ve said in past blog entries that often the only feedback I ever get on any of my cartoons is whenever somebody has taken great offense to whatever I’ve drawn and feel the need to convey their anger to me.
My most recent cartoon focusing on the sad saga of Hamilton’s City Hall reno drew the ire of a close relative to the architect of the building, Stanley Roscoe, who phoned to ask what gives me “the nerve to be an architectural critique”.
What gives anyone the right to be an architectual critic? Are only learned experts of the field entitled to pass judgement on architecture in high brow periodicals? Can’t the unwashed masses who can’t tell a cupola from a corbel air their own feelings about the concrete monsters they have to share this planet with?
Anyway, I’ve posted the original sketch I was going to go with and tempered the farting base ass imagery with a giant toilet. My apologies for the loooong gap between blog entries. I’ll keep trying to keep this thing up to date.
