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If you care about independent film, you've been following the career of Philip Seymour Hoffman since the early 1990s. For a while, he was nearly ubiquitous, appearing in one brilliant small role after the next. When PSH achieved star recognition, it was as if a well-kept secret had been discovered, like hearing a song by your favourite unknown indie band suddenly sweep the pop-radio charts. He was a phenomenal actor. He also directed, but acting was his true talent. Although "Capote" is being celebrated as his best role - and he was incredible in that film - there were dozens of high points: "Happiness," "Owning Mahoney," "Charlie Wilson's War," "Moneyball," "Magnolia," "Almost Famous," all the way back to "Scent of a Woman". PSH turned in incredible performances as a supporting actor. He would inhabit the role, quietly perfect. How very, very sad that he is dead at the very young age of 46.

Yesterday I attended one of the most exciting and inspiring sessions of the OLA Super Conference, one of three that I will write about. It was a presentation by two people from MakerKids , one of the world's only makerspaces dedicated to and for young people - and lucky for us, it's in Toronto. Makerspaces... and MakerKids In this previous post about attending "OLA" for the first time, I listed "Maker Culture in Action" as one of the sessions I wanted to attend. A reader asked what that meant, and a little discussion ensued: here . That was a good reminder that the makerspace concept, which I only discovered in library school, is not necessarily a part of the general consciousness. My favourite definition of a makerspace is "a community centre with tools". A makerspace is a public workshop where people use materials and tools to create things. The maker movement is related to old-fashioned tinkering, but it's more social - something that takes...

At the suggestion of a longtime reader - someone I had never heard from before, although he's been reading wmtc for many years - I will now be tweeting wmtc posts. For some people, this might be an easy way to follow or subscribe to this blog. I've been on Twitter for a little while, under a pseudonym, mostly to follow certain feeds, and to ask the occasional question. Now I've changed my account name to @wmtcblog . I like how Twitter let me change the name but keep the account; following and followers all stay the same. I suspect following me on Twitter will be redundant with following wmtc, but if you care to, here you go .

For the next three days, I'll be attending the Ontario Library Association's annual Superconference , always referred to simply as "OLA". As the name implies, this is a gigantic conference covering issues related to all three types of libraries - public, academic, and special. You can see a program here. In library school, we were strongly encouraged to attend OLA. Students can volunteer to help run conference sessions in exchange for free attendance. I never did (honestly, I never even considered it), so now I attend my very first OLA, already a professional, and in place of three working days. Fun! Here are the sessions I am hoping to attend: - Creating an Accessible and Inclusive Library - Young Adult Readers' Advisory: Create best practices today - The Community-Led Library Model and How to Get Started - The Tween Scene: A year of programming for ages 10-14 - Booktalking 3.0: Engaging and inspiring readers online - Sub-Urban Beats: Hip-hop programming in the...

I am posting this article mainly so the commenter called "conservatives are lying scum" can repost his or her comments here. (You can currently read them on this old post: harper's support for veterans: wear a poppy. do nothing else. ) Veterans who were in Ottawa to lobby against the closing of their regional offices left a brief, emotional meeting Tuesday with Veterans Affairs Minister Julian Fantino visibly frustrated and saying they were disrespected. The federal government has already closed one office in Prince George, B.C., and plans to close eight more on Jan. 31. In a news conference, a group of veterans said their Tuesday meeting did not go well. Video from the meeting shows Fantino and veterans trading testy exchanges. Ron Clarke, a 36-year veteran of the Forces, said the meeting was "unbelievable, unacceptable and shameful. The way we were treated is just not kosher." He demanded that Fantino resign and said he would campaign "across Canada"...

The surveillance state continues to grow; news of its magnitude continues to trickle out . Some people shrug, claiming only criminals and terrorists need be concerned, but in these extreme conditions, that attitude looks increasingly ridiculous - or government-sponsored. The rest of us shudder and shake our heads... but what more? The Canada-US border has become another instrument of the surveillance state. For decades, people have claimed that border agencies had access to all our personal information, including tax and credit status. In the past, that was a myth. Now, what was once paranoid rumour appears to be true. We, the surveilled, are not consulted on these changes. The changes are not open to public debate. Neither we nor our elected representatives have an opportunity to vote for or against them. They are being instituted by fiat. Those magical words - "national security" - make everything possible. Some stories. September 2011 (note date): Canadians with mental ill...

Pete Seeger, 1919-2014 Musician, Activist, Environmentalist. Socialist.