Walking around Pat Massotti’s bedroom used to be difficult. Milk crates of CDs littered the hard-wood floors at one time. Today, the varnish on the empty floor shines. Instead, all that music sits on his desk, in the form of a 120GB Apple iPod.

“CDs used to really mean something to me,” Massotti says. “I remember heading out to the store almost every Tuesday to buy a new album. Then, it started to feel like I was the only one doing that. My love died.”

428.4 million Albums were sold in the US in 2008, according to Nielsen SoundScan, a decrease of 14 percent from 2007.

Of those sales, CDs made up 84 percent of all music sold. That is down 6 percent from 2007, where CDs made up 90 percent of all music sold. Physical music’s grip on the retail market is rapidly slipping, however. During the first half of 2009, CDs accounted for a modest 65 percent of music sold and it is estimated that physical music and digital downloads will be at 50/50 by 2010.

“Stores can no longer survive on just selling music,” says Archambault manager, Martin Beaulieu. “They need to branch out to other things, otherwise people will stop coming.”

Coupled with economic uncertainty, the diminished CD sales have caused problems for music retailers. The record store ranks have been severely thinned in recent years, and New York, once home to at least three large-scale music chains, now has none. Earlier this year, Virgin shut down its other New York Megastore, in Times Square. (There are still Virgin Megastores in Europe and the Middle East, but under different ownership.) HMV — like Virgin, of British origin — pulled out of the American market in 2004; Tower Records closed its 89 American stores in 2006. Trans World Entertainment, which operates the FYE chain, has closed at least 280 of its locations over the last two years, leaving it with about 700, but none comparable in size to the Virgin Megastore. Big box retailers such as Best Buy continue to survive, mainly due to the fact that CDs are far from their biggest income products.

Massotti, 23, believes that people adopted a mob mentality. “If the majority of your friends went out and bought CDs, you probably would to,” he says. “But they stopped doing that and started downloading. So everyone else did to.”

HMV has begun adapting to the changing consumer market. In September of 2007, they opened their first “next generation” store in Dudley, England. The store features a number of digital kiosks that allow customers to download from a limited selection of DRM-free songs and video clips for free. Customers simply download the content onto a memory device, such as a USB memory stick, which they can then transfer onto their PC, mobile phone or MP3 player.

Another striking feature is the ‘social hub,’ complete with brand new Apple iMacs, which will connect customers to a range of music and entertainment Internet sites, and Lovejuice, the UK’s leading juice bar, allowing them to enjoy a freshly-made smoothie while they hang out or network with their friends.

HMV opened its first Canadian “next generation” store in Toronto in June of 2008. The head of HMV, Simon Fox, told the Telegraph in the UK that they wanted to make the consumer feel as involved as possible. “It’s not just racks upon racks of products,” he said. “We really want to get people excited about the product.”

Christopher Tam, 29, an employee at a downtown guitar shop, says that connecting the consumer with the product is key. “For all the great stuff that MP3s can do, the one thing you can’t say about them is that you feel connected to them.”

For Tam, the main problem with CDs is that they never made the connection with people that vinyl made, which may explain vinyl’s resurgence lately. “Vinyl is still selling today. It’s selling because it connected with people. If labels can somehow form an attachment between CDs and the consumer, they’re golden.”

Apple is seemingly attempting to form that connection, but with MP3s. The introduction of their “Cocktail” campaign offers buyers a digital booklet, complete with artwork and liner notes. The feature is available only to full album purchases.

The new concept is intended to entice consumers into buying full albums instead of just cherry picking individual songs. While digital downloads have increased as CD sales have declined, purchases of full albums have also gone down.

One executive was quoted as saying, “It’s all about re-creating the heyday of the album when you would sit around with your friends looking at the artwork, while you listened to the music.”

Massotti is all for the idea. “I think it’s cool. The one thing I sort of miss from albums is being able to look through the booklet. If I can do that with the albums I download now, I’m all set.”

Beaulieu believes that there are still ways to get people flocking to record stores again. “We are always trying to think of things to do that will bring customers back. We sell other things but we’re still focused on CDs first and I strongly believe the market is still there.”

For Tam, the survival of record stores rests in the stores ability to involve their consumers. For his shop, the main focus is their customers. Though that is admittedly easier done when it is a small store, he believes that the same concept can be applied in a broader form.

“If you could get your diehard customers to commit to $20 a month, what could you give them in return,” he asks.”Whatever you offer, the point is to get good customers hooked and keep them coming back. Memberships breed loyalty and provide a steady stream of income.”

HMV’s shift towards the future of retail music may mark the beginning of the end for the compact disc. With less floor space dedicated to CDs, the phrase ‘out of sight, out of mind’ comes to thought. CDs grip as the majority of music income is slipping away faster than any label would like. If the predictions are correct and digital music splits sales 50/50 with discs, it is only a short matter of time before CDs fall into the minority. And one must wonder, how much will companies spend on a product that brings them in less revenue than digital music.

As Massotti grabs his bag off his clean bedroom floor and grabs his iPod, a slight grin comes across his face. “I remember the first time I grabbed this it felt weird,” he says. “To have everything I owned now in the palm of my hand kind of freaked me out. Convenience really was the final factor in me getting rid of my CDs.”

As for the future of physical music, Massotti says the fix is simple. “Remind people about what makes music exciting, messy, and physical.”

There has seemingly been a resurgance in vinyl lately.

While sales of vinyl records remains a small piece in the overall music business, the number of people buying new and used albums continues to rise. This increase in popularity has translated into better business for smaller retailers and distributors who have seized on the opportunity to supply customers with a product they cannot find from big box retailers such as Best Buy.

People have claimed that vinyl has a “warmer” sound to it and is therefore more appealing. Vinyl has also seems to have a sentimental attachement for people that CDs never really attained.

Though it will most likely not safe the industry from plummeting, it is a telling sign that people are still willing, and still desire, to own physical copies of an artist’s work.

The story is structured fairly normally. There are quotes sprinkled in throughout the piece and the writing is fine. Later on, a video is posted on the right hand side of Pattinson speaking on the fame, which is what Radcliffe was talking about in the piece.

The addition of the video adds a nice layer to the story. The reader is able to get a firsthand account after some assessment from an outsider.

Another version of the article comes from OK piece dealing with Daniel Radcliffe discussing Robert Pattinson. The lead is very straight forward, saying “Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe says Twilight actor Robert Pattinson appears to be dealing well with the pressures of fame.” Though it gets all points across, I do not feel compelled to read further. Now, for the people this is directed towards, i.e. Twilight fans and Harry Potter fans, it may not even matter seeing as how they will read regardless of what the lead says.

The story is structured fairly normally. There are quotes sprinkled in throughout the piece and the writing is fine. Later on, a video is posted on the right hand side of Pattinson speaking on the fame, which is what Radcliffe was talking about in the piece.

The addition of the video adds a nice layer to the story. The reader is able to get a firsthand account after some assessment from an outsider.

Which seems to be some kind of gossip tabloid in the UK. The lead is pretty bad, saying, “HARRY Potter star Daniel Radcliffe says Twilight Saga: New Moon actor Robert Pattinson has been “coping well” with his level of fame.” It sounds more like a headline than a lead, and even as a headline it does not work. Also, the second paragraph paraphrases Radcliffe, only to quote him the very next line.

There are multiple non-related links in the middle of the story, which throws the reader off. However, at the beginning of the story there is a sort of photo gallery which I suppose would interest fans of the two stars. It also has photos of Pattinson and Radcliffe when they were co-stars which adds to the story. However, the story is not very engaging whatsoever.

My lead would deal with something about the two stars past. It would be good to highlight how they were once at the same level and now Pattinson is experience unparallel craze.

The video is a good addition to the BBC story, and I think it would help to even get a video of Radcliffe speaking, if possible. If not, then a video of the two together on some promo junket for their Harry Potter movie years ago.

For this assignment I chose to take two slideshows to contrast. I used Apple’s Final Cut for one and Windows Movie Maker for the other video. I chose Final Cut because I had used it once for a couple of assignments in CEGEP and found it to be a pretty decent tool when it comes to simple presentations such as short videos or photo slideshows. I had remembered being able to easily add music as well as zoom in and out of the photos and everything being very easy to use.

As for Windows Movie Maker, I chose that simply out of convenience. I have it on my laptop; I had never used it until this point, however. I do not associate Windows with anything multimedia-related. That does not seem to be their strong point. However this program was extremely simple, too simple, actually. There was not much you could do with it; however it got the basic job done.

For the first video, I used Windows Movie Maker. As I said the tools are extremely limited. I found a few snowboarding and skateboarding photos, for some reason I just felt like working with those types of photos for this assignment, I also used the same types of pictures for the next video. The pictures I found were ordered in a way that it could be placed in action sequence. Many of the stills follow one another which I liked. Given that there wasn’t much you could do with the photos themselves I added music and attempted to make the photos change with the beat. For instance, at the 35 second mark I change the photo as the trumpets come in. It’s a very simplistic thing to do, but since there was not much room for creativity with this program, that had to do.

For the second video, I used Final Cut. I had originally wanted to use the same photos, but since there were more things I could do here, i.e. zoom in and out, I wanted larger, higher quality photos. I found some skateboard and snowboard ones, but I also added a few random ones just to make the piece longer. I also added music, and played off the sound again, like at the 20 second mark with the fast-paced changes. The zooms are also an effective way of presenting the photos. It makes the presentation much livelier than still photo after still photo. All in all, I found Final Cut is a far better slideshow tool.

The thread throughout the piece is going to be a person. I was told about a friend of a friend who used to buy albums constantly. He loved them but has no shifted more towards digital music. I talked with him and he agreed to an interview. We touched on him selling all of his CDs and starting a digital catalogue. I asked him why he did not even want to keep the physical copies and he told me they did not have the same sentimental value as once before. I think putting one person’s face on this piece, a face I believe represents a very large portion of people, will help make a connection.

 I plan on interviewing the directeur of one of Archambault’s stores, Martin Beaulieu as well as the manager of an HMV branch. I would like them to cover the retail aspect of the CD declines. What that has done to business, what they’re doing to stay afloat and maintain clientele, their thoughts on what is going to happen to physical music in the future.

I will be presenting the data of the sales of albums (mainly in the U.S.) and the rate of decline from around 2004 to today. I think that will best be presented in the form of bar graphs. I’m also planning on showing the closing of major retail chains whose main focus was the sale of music.

Also, I’m planning on hopefully video, or at least audio, of people talking about their experience with music downloading and purchasing. These could be a combination of streeters and people I’m familiar with. It will be interesting to get a scope of how people view illegal and legal downloads and if they still go out to stores and buy music.

Some Montrealers believe that the city should offer some more incentive for commuters.

Much like car-free day, the city has been attempting to further promote public transportation. Presumably, more people taking public transportation would eliminate pollution, as well as cut down on commuting time. In 2008, the STM launched a “family outings” initiative which allowed children to travel for free.

There has also been much talk about re-launching Montreal’s streetcar system. During the summer, mayor Tremblay was quoted as saying he would like the tram system to be in place by 2013. He has since backed away from that deadline. Installing tram lines would take away parking spaces, which would most probably make for fewer cars in the city. According to a study, the entire tram system in the city could commute up to 110 thousand riders daily.

Though there are multiple efforts in place to make the city greener, not many people are convinced it is enough. Some see it as a “band-aid solution” to an ever-growing problem. Others take an even more pessimistic route, saying there is nothing that can be done and we might as well “give up.”

Visiting from San Jose, Chris Ditrek believes efforts such as car-free day help send a message that public transportation is vital. He sees many positives in the city.

Montreal may be a ways off from obtaining its vision of the city; however there are encouraging signs of progress. Many see these signs as fruitless or ineffective, but at the end of the day it is better to have them than to not.

Shisha bars have been growing in location, as well as popularity in recent years. “You have to inhale!” is a common phrase heard throughout the room, along with coughs coming from all corners.

Shisha, known as hookah in other countries, is a lightly flavoured tobacco, which is smoked through a water pipe. However, because of its friendly appearance, people may have a tendency to overlook the health risks.

An average smoking session lasts from 20 to 60 minutes and consists of 50 to 200 puffs, each of which contains about 1 litre of smoke. A cigarette contains about 0.6 litres.

The fact that there is no definitive evidence of the harm caused by shisha compared to cigarettes leaves room for shisha smokers to argue. “A one hour smoking session is equivalent to like one cigarette,” said Richard Rhybek, 20, as he exhaled a thick puff of smoke. “I’ve been smoking it for over a year and I have no health problems at all.”

Shisha has become a popular past-time for many young club goers. “It’s a cool thing to do before hitting up a club,” said Sarah Cleary, 19. “It gets you light-headed, and it tastes good.”

The growing number of young customers has led shisha bar owners to expand their menu. “We used to just offer the regular tobacco and a couple of sophisticated flavours like cappuccino,” said owner of shisha bar Nefertiti, Raoul Amanpour. “But now, because so many club kids are getting into it, we offer about 15 different flavours ranging from peach to mango-raspberry.”

Some shisha manufacturers now offer herbal blends which contain no tobacco or nicotine. This is aimed to replace the tobacco and thus eliminate the harmful side effects

Many smokers, however, still believe there is a vast difference between shisha and cigarettes. “I have friends who smoke cigarettes and I see the effects of that,” said Jojo Rempart, 20. “I smoke shisha a few times a week and I have none of those side effects so obviously it’s not the same.”

There are some smokers who are a little more reserved at making that distinction. “I think there probably are a lot of similarities between the two,” Hybek said, as he passed the pipe’s hose to a friend. “You’re still smoking tobacco, but from a water pipe and not directly from a cigarette, so it’s still bad for you but I think it’s safer.”

The growing popularity leaves bar owner Amanpour optimistic about the future. “I think it will always have a place in our culture,” he said. “It’s been around for centuries so, even if it’s changed to herbal, there will always be a demand for it.”

For others, this is not a matter of business or ethics. It’s simply a night out. “To be honest, I couldn’t care less about the health department’s issues with this,” said Hybek, while making his way through the crowded smoke-filled room. “I smoke this stuff once in a while with my friends and we talk. It’s fun and that’s all that matters to me.”

2. Karla Homolka was released on July 3, 2005. Immediately after her release she resided in Montreal.

The Homolka movie was produced by Michael Sellers.

Homolka was fighting Section 810.2 of the criminal code. She believed it infringed on her charter rights.

On the day of her release, Officials from the guards’ union picketing outside the facility indicated at about 2:25 that they believed she was on her way out. Minutes later, a string of four vehicles approached down the long road from the prison, slowing before they turned on to the highway, where media were encamped. There were numerous tv truck camped out as well. (July 5, A1)

Homolka also gave an interview to Radio-Canada in French (July 5, A1). She refused to speak in English because she felt tat she was treated unfairly by the English media.

3. Bombardier sold its division for $1.2 Billion on August 27 2003. The move was done to  to lift the company out of a liquidity and confidence crisis that saw its stock plumb eight-year lows in March after warnings its credit rating could be downgraded to junk status.

4. Ignatieff called for an election saying that the liberals will no longer support the Harper government.
He wanted the election because he blamed Mr. Harper for the state of the economy, which has been sideswiped by the global recession, accusing the Tory Leader of delivering to Canadians “the worst deficit in our history,” “the worst unemployment record in two decades” and leading a government “that’s ready to sacrifice national unity to stay in power.”

The election would have been on November 9th or 16th.

Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe said he would support Prime Minister Harper and the NDP followed suit, thus ending any election hopes.

This could be an incredibly useful tool for someone doing an article on Studio City. There is an abundant amount of statistical information, very user-friendly and pleasing to the eye. There is also a lot of hyper linking within each tab of information which provides the reader with more information about that section.

Something could be done with the map in order to engage the reader off the bat. Perhaps by adding some of the statistical information directly on the map, but otherwise it is a great layout.

CBC has an article detailing the most dangerous sections for cyclists. 

The Google map tops the page, and the reader can click on it to view the collision information. The map lists the top seven areas in Ottawa which had the most collisions between bikes and cars.

One problem with the map is that there is not much detail given about any of the accidents. Nothing is said about when they occurred, or how severe any of the incidents were. Some information is given in the summary in the left corner; however that may be easy for many readers to miss. Many assume that that text is merely stating what they are looking at, and do not expect to be given additional information there.

There is an accompanying article which explores what causes all the collisions, as well. The article states that the traffic may be too fast, and it may be better to divert cyclists to another route, he said. It goes on to say that the city’s 2008 cycling plan provides a blueprint for such changes at a cost of $26 million over five years.

There could be improvements on how the statistical data is given on the map. Upon clicking on a certain point, it would be great to see when the last accident occurred and how severe it was. There could also be some inclusion as to what is being done at that particular intersection to avoid accidents.

Simply looking at the data the reader can see that there has been a decline in births by women under 20 from 2000 to 2005.

When speculating, one could assume that perhaps sex education has been increased over these years.  Perhaps schools have begun teaching it more. I recall when I was in high school around 2005 I had a sex education class for the first time. It could have just been my school or grade, but I had not been given any form of sex education in class prior to that. This could also be due to the fact that, as kids got older, they became more conscious and safe when it comes to sex as opposed to kids their age in years past.

The other noticeable thing is that Ontario has a far higher rate of pregnancies under 20 than Quebec. This could be the difference in cultures, schools, or any number of other factors.

Some problems caused by teen pregnancy are outlined here, as well as some additional statistics. The piece discusses that teen mothers are more likely to not finish high school or college. If there is no support from the mother’s parents or any other people close to her, it is extremely difficult to juggle both school and raising an infant. Given that, according to the piece, babies of teen mothers are more likely to do poorly in school and feel neglect, there clearly needs to be more education instilled in teens in order to prevent such mistakes.

The GlobeAndMail.com outlines an important aspect. Not all teen pregnancies are due to ignorance and accidents. Some teens fully intend to get pregnant because they feel a baby is what they need to feel complete. In Canada, where the birth rate among teens is 13.6 per 1,000, experts estimate about 20 per cent of teen pregnancies are wanted. In the United States, where teen pregnancies are three times higher and a lack of sex education leads to more unwanted pregnancies, about 12 per cent are planned. Though there are always exceptions, most girls who have children at such a young age remain in poverty.

The teen pregnancy decline has continued through the years. Teens are more informed about sex than ever before, according to author of the study published in the Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, Alex McKay. This confirms some speculation that sex education is an important contributor in the decline of teen pregnancies. It is also said that teens have greater access to contraception than ever before. Though it is said that teens are still having their first sexual encounters at a young age, the availability of contraception along with the knowledge they are armed with has helped diminish some of the major consequences.

The teen pregnancy rate also varies sharply from region to region. Six provinces had rates lower than the national average, with Prince Edward Island being the lowest at 23.4 per 1,000. The Prairie Provinces, Quebec and the three territories had higher rates, with Nunavut’s being five times above the national average.