The following post was originally published on Girth Radio on December 31 2015.
This podcast was originally recorded in May 2011 as part of the XConnect series.
Ryan Holmes is the CEO and founder of Vancouver-based HootSuite. What started as a simple social media dashboard has now grown into a billion dollar company. Take a listen to one of the early interviews with this Canadian startup success story.
I was going to call the title of this blog post: How professional football got away with murder. This is how emotional and powerful this story is.
Based on real life events, Concussion is the story of how Dr. Bennet Omalu (played by Will Smith) discovers a neurological deterioration that is similar to Alzheimer’s disease while conducting an autopsy on former NFL football player Mike Webster (played by David Morse). Dr. Omalu names the disorder chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and co-publishes his findings in a medical journal. As other football players face the same diagnosis, the doctor begins a mission to raise public awareness about the dangers of football-related head trauma.
As the movie states, football players know that football is dangerous. They know they can break their leg playing the game. They may even get a concussion. However, the movie suggests that the NFL hid from the players the one thing they didn’t know could happen to them: That the repeated head trauma would lead to former football players literally losing control of their minds and body.
There are better writers than I who have written about this issue. Here’s one such article from USA Today that is well worth the read. It’s titled, “The chilling first script of ‘Concussion’ is everything the NFL doesn’t want you to see.”
Read the book, see the movie. It will change the way you watch NFL football.
Over the holidays millions of people went to the theatre multiple times to see one film: Star Wars: The Force Awakens. However, there are at least two movies that are more important (at least here in North America).
One of them is the movie adapted from Michael Lewis’ book of the same name: The Big Short. According to IMDB, The Big Short is about “Four outsiders in the world of high-finance who predicted the credit and housing bubble collapse of the mid-2000s decide to take on the big banks for their lack of foresight and greed.” However, it’s much more than that. This is, of course, a true story. Millions of people in North America and around the world lost jobs, their homes and their entire life savings.
In an interview with Variety, movie director and screenwriter Adam McKay said this when asked how the banking world has reacted to the film,
It started when we were filming. We’d book a location and then be told, “No, no, they pulled the plug. The husband’s a banker” or “the wife’s dad is a huge banker.” At first it was little prickly things like that. And then as the film opened in a limited run (on Dec. 11), there were six or seven op-ed pieces in the world of economics and finance, crossfire arguments. The Wall Street Journal reviewer liked the film but an op-ed piece took a swipe at us, then Paul Krugman responded to the Journal piece, then Forbes responded to Krugman, then a Libertarian columnist really liked this movie. … It’s encouraging. We made this movie to get the conversation going. Even in the last few Q&As, there’s been — well, I’d say a little arguing, but not yelling. It’s a good sign. This movie was designed to stir the pot. And even more than financial people, I’m glad that “regular” people are talking about it. What’s amazing about this story is that it’s still happening.
On September 27 2015 four white lion cubs were born at the Toronto Zoo to Makali and Fintan. On December 28 (3 months later) I paid the new family a visit.
The Art Gallery of Ontario is located in downtown Toronto near the intersection of Bloor and Bathurst. Over the winter break I visited the AGO and took a tour as well as visited the JMW Turner exhibit, Painting Set Free.
Tour:
I was shown the Thomson Collection of Ship Models (one of the largest in the world) and even saw Peter Paul Ruben’s masterpiece, The Massacre of the Innocents.
JMW Turner: Painting Set Free
“Turner’s late works, with their emphasis on atmosphere, are famous for their rich colour, textures and evocative use of light.”
The Art Gallery of Ontario is open most days from 10:30am until 4pm. Check out the AGO’s website at ago.net.
I really enjoy contributing to ITbusiness.ca. I have been doing so for a number of years and 2015 was no exception. I wrote 5 pieces this past year.
The first one ended up being the most popular post of all of 2015. Here is a list of the articles. If you have not read them, I encourage you to do so. And even if you have, this is as good a time as any to review them. I hope you enjoy!
Brands and U2 take to Periscope (and Meerkat) to reach fans and customers
Canadian smartphone use on the rise; but apps in decline: Report
What the recent announcements at F8 mean for advertisers
Twitter showcases best in class during Advertising Week Canada
Wow. That was unexpected. Early in 2015 I submitted an article to itbusiness.ca called, “5 Canadians to Watch in 2015“. Little did I know that it would end up being the most popular post of the year.
I profiled Alkarim Nasser, Salim Teja, Deborah Hall, Duncan Fulton, and the Conservative Party of Canada.
Who should we watch in 2016? I’m not sure yet. But stay tuned!!
To celebrate the release of Star Wars: Episode VII, The New Jersey Institute of Technology brings you a countdown of how sci-fi predicted the future of modern computer science. Without the ideas and the creatives that first imagined possibilities in computer science, it’s difficult to know what technological advances would have come to fruition.
Season One of my latest podcast project, Welcome!, is now in the can. Welcome! is designed to showcase conversations with members of Toronto’s creative community. They can be musicians, artists, and even entrepreneurs. Essentially, anyone who lives or works in Toronto that is doing interesting things.
I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing serial entrepreneurs, agency executives, teachers, designers, musicians, and even someone who was running for office in the last federal election.
I’m looking forward to Season Two of Welcome! You can expect to hear from people whom you know. And many that you don’t know. However, there is one thing you can expect: The conversations will shed light on the lives, success and failures of these people. I hope you enjoy this ride as much as I will enjoy bringing it to you.
Remember to follow my episodes of Welcome! on Girth Radio. You can also follow me on the Welcome! MixCloud station.
Season One episodes:
#16 – Ian Chalmers
#15 – Steve Hulford
#14 – Mark Farmer #2
#13 – Dan Demsky
#12 – Laura Casselman
#11 – Toronto Mike
#10 – Farid Kassam
#9 – Kevin Kennedy
#8 – Uncle Neil
#7 – Gregg Tilston
#6 – Hessie Jones
#5 – Andrew Jenkins
#4 – Kerry Morrison
#3 – Laurie Dillon-Schalk
#2 – Mark Farmer
#1 – Karim Awad
On December 3 2015, Scott Weiland was found dead. He will be best remembered as the frontman of the successful rock band Stone Temple Pilots. Weiland’s recognizable voice and dark lyrics were part of my high school days along with the music of Pearl Jam and Soundgarden (to name but a few).
