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Dalson Chen 14 days ago
Oh man, I'm so behind on this blog. These images are from the Ode to Edo art exhibit that happened more than a MONTH ago at the Rawmeet Studio/Gallery in Walkerville. Yes, it has taken me this long to post them. But the show was so cool that I thought it would be a shame to just let the pics sit in a folder. A lot of these neat drawings and paintings are the work of illustrator Kagan McLeod and his father Phil McLeod, who is one of the partners behind the gallery. dchen@thestar.canwest.comDalson Chen 32 days ago
Earlier this month I reviewed Cheech and Chong at Caesars Windsor. Man, did it make me feel old. Truth be told, their glory days predated my youth. They'd already broken up by the time I got into them in high school. But that didn't stop me from being a fan. I listened to their comedy albums and watched their movies. I still know the lyrics to Earache My Eye. Even learned how to play the song on bass. Comedy or not, it's a great riff. And I'm probably going to remember this parody jingle for the rest of my days: "No stems, no seeds that you don't need — Acapulco Gold is (toking sound) badass weed." I guess the fact that I was a fan is part of why I found it kind of depressing to see present-day Cheech and Chong. The material was the same, but their appearance really showed the inexorable passage of time. It's one thing to see a couple crazy dudes cast aside their dignity and indulge in puerile humour. It's another thing to see a couple senior citizens ...Dalson Chen 34 days ago
Sorry for the lack of updates. Here I go again with this blog. This is old news, but hopefully you're already aware of the fatal shooting that happened downtown in the early hours of Sept. 27. That brings Windsor's number of murders in 2009 to five. As noted in a previous blog entry, we only had three murders in 2008. But so what? We're still doing better than previous decades. The Windsor police website lists homicide stats going back to 1978. I did some counting. We've had eight years (1980, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1992, 1993,1995 and 1997) where our annual murder figure was eight. And we've had five years (1988, 1989, 1998, 2000 and 2003) where the number was seven. So sleep easy. Even at five homicides, 2009 is (so far) still at three fewer murders than 1997. And, of course, all these numbers are wonderfully tiny in comparison to those of our Detroit neighbours, whose annual murder figures regularly hit triple digits (although they seem to be doing better ...Dalson Chen 86 days ago
Just a quick comment on this story about Windsor resident Dean DeJoseph being named a recipient of a bravery medal from the Governor General. I wrote the original story back in December 2007 when DeJoseph repeatedly ran into a burning house in west Windsor to help strangers. You can't tell from the pic, but when we interviewed and photographed DeJoseph, the house was in utter darkness. The power had been shut off. Windsor Star photographer Tyler Brownbridge had to use his flash just so we could navigate the mess. How Tyler managed to get this shot while blind, I'll never know. dchen@thestar.canwest.comDalson Chen 87 days ago
I need a new suit. Interviewing Belle River-raised Dan Trepanier (recently named the Best Dressed Real Man in America 2009), I couldn't help feeling self-conscious about my wardrobe. More accurately, my lack of a wardrobe. I wear jeans and plain T-shirts every day. I have one unfashionable suit and I use it for any dress occasion: galas, weddings, funerals. I'm unimpressed by fashionistos — but perhaps I should upgrade my look. By the way, Trepanier says in his style blog his watch is a Montblanc Timewalker. Assuming it's real, that watch costs around $2,000. Possibly $3,000. Materialism is a harsh mistress. dchen@thestar.canwest.com
