Now, what happens next at Now Magazine?

Besides continuing in print, for now

Dec 3, 2019

A message to readers on NOW Magazine's next chapter: buff.ly/2RbWa9f

“NOW Central Communications Inc.” is evidently the consolidated name after the sale of the 38-year-old Toronto alt weekly to a publicly traded company with ambitions of reaching a vast “creative class” by acquiring multiple struggling publications. Brian Kalish, the CEO of Media Central, says he plans to keep Now Magazine’s current model intact.

Vice Canada through a Ringer

The Ringer @ringer

From @Knibbs, here is an inside look at the Canadian hipster drug ring through the eyes of the self-proclaimed “most prolific and ‘notorious’ music journalist Toronto will ever see.”

therin.gr“Worked at Vice Then Went to Jail”: How a Bunch of Canadian Hipsters Wound Up Smuggling Cocaine (and Getting Caught)In December 2015, five young people were arrested in Australia during a botched drug trafficking attempt. In September 2019, their handler Yaroslav Pastukhov—a onetime Vice Canada editor known as Slava P.—pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import cocaine. Slava admits his involvement in the scheme, and…

Kate Knibbs took a deep dive into the drug trafficking scandal that originated with the Noisey music section editor who’s awaiting sentencing. Yaroslav “Slava P” Pastukhov talks about how rising in the corporate ranks of Vice was more compelling to him than journalism: “A lot of the shit that went out, I just read the first paragraph,” he admits.

Huawei is ready to move its research centre to Canada. Ren Zhengfei, who founded the Chinese electronics company, plans to relocate to escape the White House’s wrath. Meanwhile, his CFO Meng Wanzhou is reflective a year after her arrest in Vancouver; former deputy PM John Manley is urging that she get deported as part of a prisoner exchange with China.

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Bob Bratina’s time-and-temp

At a time when there are researchers concluding that memes on Pinterest are gaming political polarization in Canada, a benign monthly Twitter greeting from a Liberal MP is perceived as part of a war on Christmas. Bob Bratina has issued these in prior months, and has nothing against Santa—but the reply ratio is still quite hilarious:

Bob Bratina @BobBratina

Wishing everyone in Hamilton East - Stoney Creek a great month of December! #HamOnt

Jim Karygiannis’s overturned unemployment is being appealed. While he returned to Toronto city hall like nothing ever happened, the Scarborough-Agincourt councillor faces a legal challenge from experienced elections advocate Adam Chaleff. Karygiannis says that an excessive spending claim was due to a clerical error.

An ode to celebrity connection

PartyNextDoor was touted as Drake’s mellow Mississauga protege, based on the OVO association, even though his own chart statistics didn’t sustain the hype. After being charged for drug possession at the Buffalo border, Jahron Brathwaite’s alter ego laid low. But he’s now returned to formidable streaming numbers, with help from a friend: