C Koehn Dot Com

Adam Gopnik’s ‘Winter.’

Posted on January 17, 2012 | Leave a comment

Winter: Five Windows on the Season by Adam Gopnik

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this book, but when I did I found myself lost in a number of author, poet, composer references the author makes while stating his claim. That’s pretty much my only complaint with this book. At the very least these references have introduced me to something new, however, I did feel as if his intended audience was more along the lines of a well-read boomer.

I really loved his idea that northern European winter was a symbol of the counter-enlightenment and his bit on Montreal and cities in winter agreed with everything I feel about the subject.

View all my reviews

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Posted in Uncategorized

Merry Christmas!

Posted on December 20, 2011 | Leave a comment

What is a journalist?

Posted on December 8, 2011 | Leave a comment

I am fascinated by this judge’s definition of what constitutes journalism delivered at the end of defamation case involving a blogger and an investment firm. While journalists and bloggers endlessly bicker with each other over the definition of journalism, it appears that the courts are making the decision for us.

Here’s an excerpt from the judge’s opinion:

Defendant fails to bring forth any evidence suggestive of her status as a journalist. For example, there is no evidence of (1) any education in journalism; (2) any credentials or proof of any affiliation with any recognized news entity; (3) proof of adherence to journalistic standards such as editing, fact-checking, or disclosures of conflicts of interest; (4) keeping notes of conversations and interviews conducted; (5) mutual understanding or agreement of confidentiality between the defendant and his/her sources; (6) creation of an independent product rather than assembling writings and postings of others; or (7) contacting “the other side” to get both sides of a story. Without evidence of this nature, defendant is not “media.

Is this a fair definition? Number six in particular strikes me as one of the most important differences between bloggers/news aggregators and journalists.

Read the excellent Forbes.com piece in its entirety here.

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Posted in Blogging, Internet, Journalism, Legal

An easy way to make a difference in local arts.

Posted on December 5, 2011 | Leave a comment

Mural design by Vaughn Warren

OK, reader. Yes, I meant the singular.
I know it sucks to sign up for stuff, but this campaign is for a little theatre back in Kamloops, B.C., which I hold dear. The Pavilion Theatre could use a major facelift.
I wish it could forever remain what it was when I used to work there, so that I could walk in at anytime and instantly be transported to one of the best times of my life, but I know it could use significant renovations.
Voting here might get the Pavilion Theatre in Kamloops part of $1 million to upgrade. It has already made the next round so go vote!

P.S. you can login with Facebook so it’s pretty much a one-step process!

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Posted in Art, British Columbia, Theatre

Bald eagle animal rescue in Nanaimo.

Posted on November 22, 2011 | Leave a comment

Dr. Ken Langelier arrived at his busy animal hospital earlier this month expecting the worst. A wildlife rescue outfit had brought in a large male bald eagle with a broken wing that was found in distress on Gabriola Island. The odds aren’t necessarily good in these cases, he said, and noted that many eagles have had to be put down for the same injury.
The fierce looking bird appeared to resign itself to captivity and remained mostly calm as technicians prepared it for an x-ray. Langelier, owner of the Island Veterinary Hospital, has been in business for over 30 years and has rescued hundreds of animals, many of them bald eagles. He does this for free.
When I went to the hospital to shoot a photo of Langelier for a story on his 30 years in Nanaimo, I was told that he was to perform surgery on the eagle so I decided to shoot some video using my Nikon D7000 slr and a 28-70mm 2.8 lens. I’m impressed with the quality despite the fact that it’s all hand-held using available light and the built-in mic.
Here’s a link to the video, which ran alongside the news story in the Nanaimo Daily News earlier this month:

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Posted in British Columbia, Journalism, Nanaimo, Outdoors, Wildlife

iPhone 4S video is good, but not great.

Posted on October 17, 2011 | Leave a comment

Mashable had a brief about the iPhone 4S video quality, and while I agree it’s pretty good, it’s not great.

I disagree with writer Christina Warren who says,

“Of course, in the hands of a pro-shooter, any camera can produce good looking footage. Dowie, who runs Beanpole Productions in Australia, is a pro. Your own footage may not look quite as beautiful.”

I’ve seen some spectacular stuff from the hands of amateurs. I’m not overly impressed with his footage. While it’s only a test to show some of the quality, it looks like those boring hipstagram photos and the rolling shutter was making me sick. When will that hipstagram trend finally die?

One comment says that the iPhone 4S is a DSLR video replacement. Not likely, but it’s sure a handy thing to have with you when you don’t want to pack gear around.

I fully agree with Warren’s conclusion.

“Still, it’s impressive to see just how much camera optics are improving. Phones have already replaced the day-to-day pocket camera for many users — with the death of the Flip and improvements to video sensors, phones could start to replace low-level video cameras too.”

I would go a step further and say that phones have already done so, but they’re a ways off from replacing a D7000 or a 5D MkII.

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Posted in Apple, Internet, Videography

The fear factor.

Posted on October 13, 2011 | Leave a comment

I had almost forgotten about these hilarious photos showing frightened reactions from people visiting the Nightmare Fear Factory haunted house in Niagara Falls.

Some forums had a heyday with them and posted some photoshops. Here are two of the best:

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Posted in Internet, People

Ebb and flow.

Posted on October 12, 2011 | Leave a comment

“It’s always been something I enjoyed. It makes life feel worth living,” said Howard-Gibbon, a year-round swimmer who turns 80 this November.
“I’ll keep doing this until it’s physically impossible.”

-Nanaimo Daily News “Swimming man a routine sight for Nanaimo residents. . .” July 26, 2011

John Howard-Gibbon never made it to 80. He passed away on August 26, only days after he was to compete in a one-mile swim event in Qualicum Beach. He drowned in the same bay that he had been swimming each day for years.

He was known to brave slushy water and even swam through a thin film of ice once, prompting a neighbour to call the police to inquire if he were suicidal. Howard-Gibbon shrugged it off. He guessed that the neighbour wasn’t used to seeing someone swimming in the ocean during the dead of winter.

Neither was he 40 years ago. Howard-Gibbon marvelled at the constitution of a swimmer on a wintry Jericho Beach in Vancouver who explained to him that the cold dip helped him keep up his health. Four decades later, Howard-Gibbon swore that he hadn’t suffered a cold since he began year-round swimming.

John was something of a kindred spirit to me. I had no idea he was involved in newspapers until I read his obituary last week. He started off as a printer in Williams Lake and Vancouver and then went to USC to study Chinese. Years later he would work for the English language China Daily newspaper as a copy editor. According to his obituary, he held the position of deputy-editor-in-chief with the China Daily until recently.

When I heard that they had pulled his body from the bay, I was incredulous. Life is full of sudden turns and tides that will forever keep us guessing.

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Posted in Journalism, Nanaimo, People

Steve Jobs, computing pioneer dead at 56.

Posted on October 5, 2011 | Leave a comment

RIP 1955-2011

Bizarrely enough, our usually stable newsroom network, that runs on antiquated mac servers, crapped out on us around 2-3 p.m. today. While the computers around me restarted and played their start-up chimes I was reminded of TAPS…

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Posted in Apple, Internet

B.C. Conservatives rally faithful in Nanaimo.

Posted on September 24, 2011 | Leave a comment

John Cummins attends the B.C. Conservative AGM in Nanaimo. alt

B.C. Conservative Party leader John Cummins at the party's annual general meeting in Nanaimo on Saturday, Sept. 24. (Chris Koehn/ ©Nanaimo Daily News/Postmedia)

A grassroots conservative political movement that is generating interest across the province has spread to Vancouver Island.

The B.C. Conservative Party met on Saturday in Nanaimo to elect a new board and develop its policy document from which to form the basis of their political platform. The annual general meeting featured a rousing speech from party leader John Cummins who also teased his party’s platform when he announced two key conservative policies.

One rancher with land on the Island and in the Southern Interior believes that Cummins’ leadership will wrangle B.C. towards a new heyday, and their growing following has the B.C. Liberals in full attack mode.