The Dubious Monk

Best of the Blog
I’ve collected the permalinks to some of my favourite blog entries. If you want a taste of what I write, this would be a good place to start. I warn you, I haven’t updated that section in a while.

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The Experts at the Periphery
In May 2008 I started working on the Assignment Zero project in distributed journalism. The first big story this mob of journalists worked on was a piece on crowdsourcing itself. Sort of reflexive, I know. I got to interview one of the people who actually studies the phenomenon, Karim Lakhani. In July my interview was on Wired.com

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A Train to Nowhere?
I was actually commissioned to write this piece for the magazine The Canadian Mennonite. They wanted something on the rise of the middle class in China and how it related to faith issues and globalization. That was right up my alley so out came this article. My favourite part of the experience is that it’s in the Young Prophets space in the print edition.

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Where the Evangelists Are
I wrote an article for Geez Magazine on how evangelical Christians do their gospel-spreading work. The devil makes an appearance in one young man’s quote. Sadly, my article doesn’t make an appearance on the issue’s webpage (which the title up there links to).

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The Tao of the Street
A photoessay I compiled for InTheFray.com, an online magazine “dedicated to seeing the world through different i’s.” It’s made up of pictures from my first six months in China.
Read the essay | Look at the photos

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Guerrilla Words
This is my radio mini documentary on the fight to define terms in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. My work on this won me the Norman Jewison Prize for Creative Writing with at UWO in 2004. You can also hear a 30 second promo I made for it.

INTRO: Universities are places that live and die on debating important issues. Some issues – like the Israel-Palestine conflict – can trigger big reactions here in Canada. In March 2004, Palestinian and Israeli student groups were suspended from York University when their competing demonstrations clashed. But even when they aren’t scuffling, activists are fighting subtle battles – battles over meaning.

J Unrau has more from London, Ontario. (7.5MB MP3)

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Pope Vs. Batman
In January 2004 I was an intern at DNTO on CBC Radio. I produced a five minute piece for the show about who would win in a pop-cultural showdown between Batman and Pope John Paul II. It was a good piece. Now technically I think the CBC owns it so I can’t just throw my mp3 up here on the site. But I also can’t toss up a link to the CBC archives because of their interface. It exists though, and it’s kind of funny.

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The Gamer’s Guide to Hitch-Hiking
I wrote a column for RPG.net on travel and roleplaying games. The idea for the G2H2 occurred years ago while hiking in Nepal, and was promptly forgotten about until April 2005.

Lacing Up The Boots: An Introduction
Going Underground: Real Life Caves
The Hammock District: The Fable of Market Niches
Pilgrims Welcome: Holy Places in the Crowds
Staring Over the Fence: International Borders
My Fishless Ear: The Life of the Monolingual Adventurer
Gustatory Digressions: Food’s Role in Wandering
See What They Tell You: The World of Propaganda
Under Cover: The Darkness. And the Blackness.
Kaleidoscope Party: Culture of Festivals
In Which We Go Raiding: Tomb Complexes of the World
RoadWalking: Getting Lost on the Path
Standing Out: The Obvious Foreigner Syndrome
Spherical Dischord: Frustrations in the World of Taste
Contact With The Enemy: Having No Plans and Nothing to Lose
Backwaters and Burghs: Why Boring Places Aren’t
The Return: A Conclusion

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NonSensory
In which I go deaf. (First appeared in the Spring 2006 edition of the Pengyou Press.)

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Why I Don’t Write Brochures
In which I don’t see anything beautiful. (First appeared in the Fall 2005 edition of the Pengyou Press. Reprinted in the Winter 2005 China Educational Exchange Update.)

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Clearly Screaming Shoes
In which I explain why Bodhidharma came to China. (First appeared in the Winter 2004 edition of the China Educational Exchange Update.)

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Rotating David-Neel’s Grave
Hungry J explores Lhasa in a way that would seem most stupid to the unenlightened. (First appeared in the Summer 2005 edition of The Pengyou Press.)

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Pass Djibouti on the Left
While watching a military rally, Hungry J realizes his true calling as a spy. (First appeared in the Fall 2004 edition of The Pengyou Press.)

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Red China Blizzard
Everything you ever thought you knew about China is true. (First appeared in the November 2004 Charleswood Grapevine.)

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CBC Style Voicers
I can do standard everyday radio work as well. These are two of my reports I did for RAW Radio in 2004.

Planet(oid) Sedna (1.5MB mp3)
City Workers Vote to Strike (1.6MB mp3)