PEEP CREEP’S SCIENCE FRICTION RUBBISH

Since I’ve just returned from my 560KM kayak journey, I figured I would catch up on a few of the Toronto Sun headlines that I’ve missed over the last couple weeks:

“SCIENCE FRICTION” – that sounds like the name of some dirty 80’s porn magazine that some kid found stashed under his Dad’s bed.

I’ve seen worse puns from the Toronto Sun; this one isn’t too horrible. But I don’t understand why they aren’t using all caps in this headline?? That’s definitely not normal for the Sun.

Here’s another cover that is using lower case letters. I think the Caps Lock key on the cover editor’s keyboard broke…

I like when they take photos and cover the top banner with the photo. This cover is neat – well at least until you see the bright yellow “RUBBISH” text.

This cover points out the obvious – that they need to raise the speed limit on this road. Obviously 50 km/h is far too slow if people are driving 200 km/h.

PEEP CREEP? I like that one. That’s good.

The Other Cover…

Since Torontoist and Eye Weekly have already beat me in covering today’s Toronto Sun cover, I figured I’d show you what the cover was supposed to look like before someone in advertising at the Toronto Sun covered the photo of Toronto Councillor Cesar Palacio - pictured above with his son - with a photo of Sacha Baron Cohen, advertising his new movie, Bruno – which starts in theatres today.

The insensitive headline “BODY FOUND IN CAR TRUNK” appears to be referring to Sacha Baron Cohen. It’s amazing that this made it through the editors - I guess the Sun laid off its entire Quality Control group – if there ever was such a thing.

The Monster Mash

Yesterday’s Sun cover is just too funny to pass up. The headline reads “LEAFS LAND A MONSTER” and includes a devilish photo of Jonas Gustavsson who was acquired by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the free agent signing period and is nicknamed the “Monster” given his relatively large body size and height (6’3”).

According to Random House Dictionary, one of the several meanings of monster is “any animal or thing huge in size”. Although this might be fitting for Gustavsson, I prefer one of the other definitions: “any creature so ugly or monstrous as to frighten people” or “a person who excites horror by wickedness, cruelty, etc.” or “any animal or human grotesquely deviating from the normal shape, behavior, or character”.

The shadow in the photo almost makes Gustavsson look like “two-face”.

In other news, I’m going to be on hiatus for the next couple of weeks on an adventure that will see me paddle solo from Toronto to Montreal. Since I’ll have a little bit of free time while resting my aching body each night, I’ll try to update this site from my Blackberry if possible. Also, please come join my Facebook group or twitter if you’d like to follow me on my 560KM journey!

Cover Rating: NEUTRAL NEWS

Typical Tabloid Trifles

Today’s Sun cover is a beauty. I could go on for a while about it; if only I didn’t work 14 hours today before coming home to write more important articles and (hopefully) get some sleep tonight.

From the tiny, barely visible text that blows up into the huge “FACE THE TDSB AXE” headline, to the ludicrous phrase “Spraying the Pits”, to the photo of the backside of a 19-year-old laying in the back seat of the police cruiser after being arrested for an arson incident that destroyed 60 townhouses.

Good times Toronto Sun, good times indeed.

Cover Rating: NEGATIVE NEWS

Canada Day Cover

Today’s Toronto Sun ‘Canada Day’ cover is really well done. The red and white looks good on the sky background, and the blurred flag colours splashed across the “SUN” logo in the top right corner adds a nice touch.

The Sun could have used its cover to complain about the lack of fireworks in Toronto, but they took the higher road and printed a positive cover to celebrate Canada’s 142nd birthday today. Good job Toronto Sun.

Cover Rating: POSITIVE NEWS

Contents May Cause Ignorance, Cynicism…

While snapping a picture of a Toronto Sun cover yesterday, I was amused by this Warning sticker that someone has been putting on several Sun newspaper boxes around the city. It reads:

“WARNING – Contents may cause ignorance, cynicism, and distrust in public institutions. Repeated exposure may harm intellect.”

It appears this has been going on for quite some time. Torontoist wrote about a similar sticker last July. The only difference being the font in the “WARNING” heading, and the word “impair” was replaced by “harm” in the more recent sticker.

Cover Rating: NEUTRAL NEWS