Tuesday, February 07, 2012

Manitoba Links Weekly: Mark Your Calendar for Nine Hours of Puppies (ManLinkWeek 17)

Well, it's Tuesday again (already, somehow), and Tuesday means ManLinkWeek! I'll try not to go overboard on any of these like I did last week; it makes for a breezier read that way. Plus the sooner I wrap this up, the sooner I can go play The Simpsons Arcade Game; it's dropping as a downloadable game on PS3 today (and on 360 last Friday, but my arcade stick only works on PS3 and I am particular like that), and I can't not give it my money, you know? I'm from the last generation that spent its childhood in arcades (or rather, arcades not connected to shopping mall movie theatres), so old-style licensed pixel-art beat-'em-ups are like my kryptonite wrapped in catnip. I'm terrible at them, because they're designed to have you be terrible at them (get out your quarters!), but I love 'em so much that I could just go on for--this aside isn't making the post go any faster, is it. NEVER MIND, MANLINKWEEK ENGAGE

[PolicyFrog: Serviced by the Province]
If you happen to be recovering from a case of the ol' leadfoot, here's how to save eighteen to twenty-five dollars on your speeding ticket. Figured I'd put this first as a helpful heads-up for readers, although now having said that it's probably going to pop up on the right-hand side of Facebook pages as "1 WEIRD TIP THE GOVERNMENT DOESN'T WANT YOU TO KNOW ABOUT!!" or whatever.

[greg.g: Are muggings an urban planning problem?]
This week on Winnipeg Internet Pundits we will (if all goes well) be joined by Greg Gallinger, a local blogger who was -- like a lot of folk in our fair city -- mugged for his beer recently. But rather than simply blaming the crime on certain racial or economic populations (which is usually the default starting position in this town, and you are welcome to read the online comments sections of our local newspapers if you disagree with that assessment), he started thinking about the role that the physical environment had played in the event. How are crimes of opportunity affected by the space around them, and what urban planning decisions could be made to minimize dangerous situations in future?

[Division of Power (The Uniter): Winnipeg needs political parties]
Tomorrow's show will (if all goes well) also feature Ethan Cabel, News Assignment Editor at The Uniter and author of the Division of Power politics column. The affiliations and influences of party politics are not particularly well hidden in our civic political sphere, although at present they also tend to be as scattershot and as dishonest and as poorly planned as... pretty well everything else in our city. Is it time for Winnipeg to move towards a formal party structure, and would said move bring better accountability or transparency to our electoral process? These are dense and important questions, and I will do my best not to ruin them tomorrow with snark and Godzilla noises.

[The Cranky Beer Blogger: What Makes the Cranky Beer Blogger Cranky?]
If you read the question and thought "Brandon", you're a third of the way there!

[Anybody Want A Peanut?: Winnipeg's golf courses: an overview]
I've established previously that I hate golf, so it's a helpful counterbalance to have an actual golfer give his impressions of the now-controversial city-owned golf courses. (Or at least, the ones that the City allowed him to play on.)

"Crescent Park: If you golf here, avoid putting anything sharp in your golf bag, as you will most likely slit your wrists half way through the round."

[THE RISE AND SPRAWL: McDermot and King, Winnipeg, circa 1923.]
OH NO STREET RACERS, WHAT IS THIS CITY COMING TO

[***Cliché Life Lessons: Winnipeg Humane Society Telethon; RRC Students]
Telethons are one of those oldschool broadcasting tropes that I appreciate in concept, even though the actual execution often ends up being quite pedestrian (or occasionally goes disastrously awry). And if the execution of the concept is nine hours of adorable animals? Well, hell, that's good TV!

That'll do it for this week's ManLinkWeek; more content to follow soon! Hopefully!

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