Maclean’s Missives

Sometimes word from “home” is so nice… E-mail letters are what keep me going here in Freetown. News, gossip, family updates, weather reports, etc. are welcome reminders of who’s who, what’s up and where’s where.

Imagine my surprise when a magazine-seller approached me in Crown Bakery, one of the most “western” retreats in the city, and held aloft a copy of Maclean’s magazine – the March 29th issue, no less. And, according to the cover, this one was a “Spring Double Issue”. Mr. Magazine-seller knows I’m Canadian and knows how I love to devour magazines. A “double-whammy” for him and a sure sale. Not even the depiction of a plaintive, bleeding Christ figure detoured me. And neither did the bare-all Martha Stewart book review highlighted at the top of the cover. Both things, I might add, that would usually turn my stomach.

I regularly buy “Focus on Africa” and “Africa Report” both published by U.K. companies. I sometimes buy “Newsweek” – usually two-three weeks out of date. And, I occasionally stumble across old issues of the “Economist” – a real treat. The local magazines, “Newday” and “SierraEye” are so bad… I end up regretting the small purchase price. I buy them to support the industry and quickly pass them along to word-hungry security guards or Class Six Secondary School students who are desperate for reading materials.

This issue of Maclean’s was only a week out of date… and bore the subscriber’s address as Leaside Park Dr., Toronto. I didn’t ask who or how or when… but quickly scratched together the 10,000Le he wanted and stashed the magazine into my briefcase… careful not to fold the cover, tear a page or wrinkle the binding.

I was going to savour this one… I was going to devour it’s contents over time… usually late at night, reading by the light of my headlamp, sitting under my mosquito netting, sweating and salivating over my deliciously Canadian magazine sweet-treat.

A week or so after my purchase, the magazine is wrinkled, folded, dog-eared, thumbed and fingered… and barely hanging together.

I think I read every word… even the ads, something I wouldn’t normally do. I read with compassion the story of Bernice Packford, who thinks she’s had enough of this life. I caught the controversy over the women’s and men’s Olympic coverage on the letters to the editor/mailbag pages. To Loblaws, Sobey’s, IGA, Foodland, etc. – isn’t it obvious that the price of a plastic grocery bag should be $1.00 – universally applied? That’s the only way to “encourage” environmentalism – via the pocketbook.

Is it really “good news” that Margaret Atwood sang? And, why should we care what she does with Olivia Newton-John? It certainly is “bad news” that Pringles was pulled off the shelves for suspected salmonella contamination. Interestingly, we can buy Pringles here – usually stale-dated, and I’m pretty sure those “maybe contaminated” tubes of tubers will wind up on store shelves here in West Africa.

I was shocked by Linda Frum’s article on the trouble at “Rights and Democracy”, “Canada’s publicly funded human rights organization”. What did she say? Eleven million dollars? Good gawd. I work with a human rights/media development organization and I’ve never seen the kind of money she talks about… Millions? Tens of thousands? Hundreds of thousands? Yeah right… Here I sit in Freetown, which would surely qualify as a “most deserving region of the world” and I’ve yet to see the kind of money Frum mentions for conferences, discretionary funds, managerial laptops or administration. Let me guess… of the eleven million dollar budget, less than 10% actually goes to those regions deemed deserving.

And, Paul Wells piece on “Harper’s Right Turn” incensed me and not just because I’m a left-leaning, slightly socialist journalist. How far right can we get? It’s a scary thought… Thanks Paul. But, it was good to see our “sacred” postal system illustrated by the likes of Andrew Tolson… who photographically captures the essence of how dire the system has become - unprofessional, lackadaisical, unresponsive and a behemoth/albatross around our necks. Time to do something about this place… the postal system, which I love so much, needs a massive upgrade in attitude and attention, in my mind.

Here I sit in post-conflict Sierra Leone… and imagine my surprise when I read about the (alleged) Liberian warlord living free and safe in Canada. Hmmm, on the diamonds from Sierra Leone perhaps? It’s a well-known fact here that the Liberian/Sierra Leonean war, through the 90s and into the millennium, was about diamonds, drugs, power and greed. And, we’re still seeing the effects. I attended the opening of the Charles Taylor trial at the Hague, via video conference at the Special Court of Sierra Leone. And, from what I learned, Taylor still controls a great deal of the wealth and power in Liberia. That’s a scary thought… but so is the notion that Canada has become a “haven” for a well-known killer and warlord. Where is Bill Horace now? Who’s investigating this further? It’s the tip of the iceberg… or, as they say here, the green snake in the grass. Time to look (carefully) deeper, in my mind.

Gay Republicans, bankrupt Greece, banning bluefin tuna, sandwiches, fashion runways, Activa yogurt and meatless Mondays were all great reads… from newsmakers to women in metal… some things I cared about deeply and others… well, no.

The Back Pages… I had to wonder who or why any reviewer much less a wily consumer would ever wade through almost 400 pages of bitchy, bare-all gossip about Martha Stewart. Why bother? Because she’s “famous”? I think the book industry can do without such blather, thank you very much. Kudos to Anne Kingston for getting through the book… and warning us all to stay the heck away. And, speaking of the book industry… way to go Penguin! Good effort but more work is required. Perhaps Penguin should read the piece about “curl maintenance”. It might help with the cover designs. Sigh.

Magazines, news, reports, etc. wouldn’t be complete without quandaries from Quebec. Mark Steyn has it covered… Intolerance? Yes. Taking it too far. Yes. Taking Quebec for who they are… Priceless!

The End – I think the only page my son, Isaac, reads… a remarkably moving story of a remarkably boring guy. Gotta love those.

Thank you, Maclean’s, however and whenever you arrived in Freetown… it was a blessing.

Your humble, boring, mag-material hungry servant,
Stephen