Hawk On Fire

Plug your ears because this year's Grey Cup halftime show features Canada's worst. At first I didn’t want to believe it. Then, I resisted, bit back a WTF and then I just shook my head in disgust. That was my reaction when I read who would be headlining the stage during halftime at this year’s Grey Cup. Justin Bieber. Carly Rae Jepsen. Mariana’s Trench. Gordon Lightfoot. Poor, poor Mr. Lightfoot. I’m a fanatic for championship games, regardless of the sport. The teams are fired up, the pinnacle of the game is on the line, the drama is amplified and there’s usually a decent spectacle to go with it. Not to mention the buildup before the big game. For instance, in football’s case, the halftime shows are sometimes bigger performances than the game itself. A few weeks ago, I was really looking forward to watching the 100th Grey Cup, not caring which teams were playing. The key word here is “was.” Canada’s premier football league is celebrating an entire century and we some...

If you haven't noticed, hashtags are everywhere. Well, everywhere online. Nowadays, they’re almost unavoidable. What began as a means of sorting out what's being tweeted at the moment on Twitter has now grown into something more; becoming punchlines on Facebook statuses, daily news and even during your favourite TV shows. In other words, what started out to be a social media trend has progressed into something more meaningful - a communication system that allows you to view a topic of discussion just by searching a key word. Need the next Taylor Swift hit? Hashtag search "Swift" and you'll find a flock of tweeters tweeting a tweet about her latest break-up. But is this just a trend or will hashtag messages progress into something more meaningful? In a pre-Facebook age, believe it or not, not too long ago, the only social networks I remember were MySpace and MSN Messenger. What a wasteland, right? These are the places we went to hang, to chat; these were our reso...

Earlier this week, the City of North Bay announced it was going to be getting the Battalion from Brampton for the next hockey season. BUT, 2,000 season tickets must be sold by the year's end. How is social media playing an impact?