Wednesday, July 10, 2013

I can't help it


Yup, I'm feeling a little under appreciated today, clearly the first time ever that a blogger has felt this way. Last Friday, I wrote a blog post about some of the things I've seen lately here in the North End. Part of what finally brought me out of my blogging drought was spotting signs around Burrows and Charles that had been put up by a local resident clearly trying to deter johns from looking for "dates" near his or her house. I knew this was a good North End piece of news to bring to my readership masses (it's my blog, I can define masses however I want!)
Apparently I had no idea how juicy this story really was.

Yesterday at least 4 local media outlets ran with their version of the story (CBC, CTV, Sun, Freep). Now, I know that reporters from all 4 of these outlets read my blog because over the years I have been writing I have been contacted by most of them and am also followed on twitter by their staff. To be fair, they did track down the creator of those signs and I did not - but y'know THEY'RE PAID TO ADD THAT KIND OF DEPTH TO A STORY. And besides other than adding his name they didn't really add much more than my post (*at first, they did seem to expand on their stories later in the day) - I on the other hand provided my readers with a first hand account of hugging a street worker and being approached by johns.

Now, I'm not a total idiot, I know they aren't going to mention in their story how they came to be writing about it, but an email or a DM on Twitter to say, "hey, we're going to look into what the deal is with those signs, thanks for the heads up" would have been nice. As a positive side note, since although my readership is international, it doesn't cast quite as wide of a net as those 4 big players so at least the topic is getting more attention.

As a thank you for providing the topic I ask of the traditional media (especially you CBC) to go back and read my posts about neighbourhood boundaries, since now I know for sure you read the blog.

Friday, July 5, 2013

As seen around the North End...

Okay, I've apparently gone a month without posting and I have a million ideas for posts in my head (like every other blogger) but my computer at home bit the dust and the idea of trying to post on my ipad doesn't really appeal.

So first up...
SOFA KING many broken windows! Yes. I took this picture a long time ago. It still looks the same though.
Why SOFA KING many broken windows?

What font would you call that?



 I'm not sure if I should find this sign from the Robin's Donuts at Selkirk and Salter charming or depressing in its simplicity. To be fair, they did eventually get a proper one made - when I went to take a photo of it however it was gone. I made the investigate effort of going inside and asking about it. I'm told it's a winter only service. My sources tell me that someone is trying to put a Timmies in the old Riedigers spot so with no drive-thru I wonder if this is their answer to keeping one step ahead of the game?
Looking for h00kers in the North End? Be prepared to get famous!
...and lastly, what I saw today that made me write a post without further delay. These lovely signs can be found at Burrows and Charles. Good on whoever did this! Living on a corner not far from here I also see my fair share of prostitutes and have also been approached myself by johns. It is basically one of the reasons I feel that prostitution needs to be legalized - let people have one spot to go for that sort of thing so that there is no mistaking women (and even worse, girls) out walking near their homes. And yes, I'm well aware that it wouldn't stop it entirely and that obviously that wouldn't address the child prostitution issue etc. etc. but I think it would be a start.

I will try and get around to posting more often! Have a great summer weekend folks :)