Tour of Trouble Two: Hairy Eyeballs, Hey.

OOH, THIS PARTICULAR Tour of Trouble entry got me a bit of a caning from two writers I much admire, John Doyle and Chris Haddock. (Actually, I think I was responding to Doyle calling me out in his column.) Oh, and now that I reread it, this is also the entry that caught the attention of Tony Nardi, a guy who's put his own "J'accuse" out into the firmament with his "Letters." (Performance pieces about the problems with the Canadian Theatre, Film and TV industries. Go see'em if you get a chance.)

Haddock had some specific criticisms which I subsequently edited into the piece.

And Doyle feels free to continue to call me out when he thinks I've written something a bit arse-ful. And I don't collapse like a little flower at the crit, because hey, Irish blood means a good fight just gets the heart going.

From my grovelling apology:

For where I was unfair and conjectured unwisely, I apologize to Haddock -- and you know, though I've probably just pissed off one of the bigshots in this country, a guy who does have years more experience than me and who I admire, I still don't regret it. But nor do I back away from it.

Cause agreeing with someone, even 97% of the time doesn't mean you gotta agree with them all the time. And I still don't.

But I do count myself as one of those that hopes that Jimmy Reardon gets to get his shot ass out of the doorway of the Chickadee, and that Haddock and the CBC -- however they argue, through the media or in private -- continue a creative partnership that's set a very high bar of quality and a target for everyone else to aim for.

And the rest of it? I guess I'll wear it. If you got a big mouth, you have to do that sometimes.

For the rest, read

The Hairy Eyeball, The Grumps, and The Day The Love Died