For the love of libraries

Last year, Halifax Public Libraries asked me to be a part of a series of videos about how the library has impacted people's lives.  As someone who has hosted talks at the library and even done radio stories about using it's massive cookbook collection, I was more than happy to be a part of it.

The video came out a couple weeks ago and has been shared and promoted on social media to a really wonderful response. I invite you to check out the rest of the videos, as well as more about their new campaign called Tastes Like Home. 

I've written about my love of cookbooks before, but this was a wonderful way to talk about how my own career path started with a book I borrowed from the library.  Check it out below, and support your local library. 

Symphony In Blue

This week's episode of Assis Toi might as well be subtitled, In The Basement. 

That's where Lyndell Findlay, owner and cheesemaker from Blue Harbour Cheese plies her trade.

Lyndell Findlay is a devotee of cheese. But perhaps her greatest love is for all things blue. In the latest episode of "Assis Toi," find out how this woman went from working for the UN with refugees to becoming a cheese maker in a basement in the north end of Halifax. Find out more about Lyndell's cheese-making at http://blueharbourcheese.com "Assis Toi" is a radio series that airs on Information Morning and Island Morning on CBC Radio in the Maritimes. It tells stories about the kinds of relationships that people have with food. For more info on "Assis Toi" and its producer, Simon Thibault, check out: http://simonthibault.com http://twitter.com/simonathibault

Since she launched her Urban Blue cheese, a gorgonzala-esque double cream blue cheese, Findlay has been amping up her production, as tasters and buyers seem to be following her wherever her cheese is sampled. She has been chronicled in The Globe and Mail, and is currently working on a few more cheese products which have yet to reach the market.

You can listen to the latest episode of Assis Toi by streaming it here, or downloading it here. I also invite you to Have A Seat with Lyndell, down below.

"Have A Seat" is a collection of previously unaired audio from interviews that air on CBC Radio's "Assis Toi". The series looks at people's relationships with food. Some of the world's best blue cheeses are traditionally made in caves, but Lyndell Findlay wanted to create a truly urban cheese. That became Urban Blue, and Findlay has found herself with quite a hit. In this episode, Lyndell talks about creating an "approachable" blue. For more on Urban Blue and Blue Harbour Cheeses, check out: http://blueharbourcheese.com For more on Simon Thibault, check out: simonthibault.com twitter.com/simonathibault

Pull up a chair and take a seat.

Last summer was filled with cakes and cookies, cocktails and beer, vegan food and sea urchins, washoku-style meals that harkened back to family, and a look into how cancer can affect the appetites of those we love.  

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A little hint of what is to come this summer: (clockwise) A tale of tofu, two types of beer, and a little bit of Asia via the Annapolis Valley.

That’s what you got to hear about - and more - on “Assis Toi”, a summer series about food that airs on CBC Radio in the Maritimes. Once a week,  “Assis Toi” introduces listeners in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island to people who have special relationships with food, and the stories found within.  

This year, I’ll be posting hints about upcoming stories on Twitter and Instagram using the hashtag #assistoicbc. There will be photos and short videos of the people you’ll soon be hear on your CBC local morning show.

For example, here’s a quick peek at the first episode of Assis Toi, with Joy Hillier, from Fudgelicious.

The first episode went to air on Thursday, July 2nd on Information Morning here in Halifax and the rest of mainland Nova Scotia. You can listen to the first episode here, or you can download the podcast via iTunes. 

Blissful and Proud

Last week was a very gay week in Halifax indeed.

No, it wasn't Pride or anything like that.  But the Youth Project, Halifax's LGTBTQ youth advocacy and support servies organisation did have it's 20th anniversary party.  The Youth Project has had a big impact on the lives of youth throughout the province, a which was echoed in this story in The Coast.  

Also in the city, noted performer/drag queen/viral sensation Panti Bliss was invited to come and speak on homophobia, a story which I covered for Daily Xtra.   An excerpt:

“The idea that a 10-minute speech about homophobia and oppression would have resonance for so many people around the world is still astounding and delightfully unexpected to me,” O’Neill says.  

But more than anything, O’Neill wants people to take all of this seriously.

“People imagine that if you are not being beaten up in the street or having ‘faggot’ screamed at you, then it’s not homophobia,” he says. “Just because homophobia is worse in other places doesn’t mean we have to accept lower levels of homophobia.”

Speaking of homophobia, I recently spoke at the ARCUP 2014 conference in Fredericton, New Brunswick.  The conference is aimed at journalism students and was hosted at St. Thomas University. I was asked to speak on reporting on social justice issues, namely LGBTQ issues.  

I have to say it was a little humbling to participate, especially the part where my talk was being live-tweeted.  

The talk I did focused on respect in journalism, with a focus on telling stories without being exploitative, using the example of the recent Katie Couric/Laverne Cox debacle.  

It was a great experience, and many thanks to those who invited me to participate.

Grip Like A Vice

On Thanksgiving weekend in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, a man named Scott Jones was stabbed in the back and had his throat slashed. The story became national news for many reasons - the violence of the crime,  the small town location - but one of the main ones is because friends of Jones believe that he was targeted because he is gay.

Whether or not Jones was attacked because of his sexuality has yet to be proven, but the story did gain traction nonetheless. I was approached by Vice magazine to write a column on the subject of wether or not Nova Scotia (and Halifax, by extension) is a violent place to live.  

An excerpt: 

 When Taavel died, I wrote and talked about the case in local and national media. It was nerve-wracking. As a journalist, I wanted to tell the actual, factual truth of the matter. But as a gay man, I also held a sense of responsibility to the queer community that I belong to, to say what mattered: we will not be frightened. 

You can read the rest of the story, here.