Public interest, I think.

Ottawa Police Services released their annual report to the public today.

A year's worth of police work was summed up in 4 pages, with total of 11 articles maxing out at 450 words a piece. To compare, my blog yesterday was nearly 200 words.

The report also shares a striking resemblance to the Vernissage newsletter I get from the National Gallery.

Graphic content (pie charts and information cyclones) and photo's (pictures of police with kids, with dogs, on bikes) make up as much of the review's content as what is written about policing in Ottawa over the last year.

The report does have a few nuggets of information.

Of the more than 900,000 calls made to the police in 2009, less than 40,000 of them lead to charges of offenses. According to the information cyclone, this adds up to a police solvency of 35 per cent.

Without documented explanations, these statistics come off looking a lot like Madoff Math.

Crime is down for the fourth year in a row in Ottawa - dropped 2.6 per cent from 2008. For that same period the number of police grew by 4 per cent, and the budget by 6 per cent.

My roommate, the criminology major, made me wonder what crime prevention expert, Irvin Waller, would say about this. For context, his main body of work is called Less Law, More Order.

The police said that this pamphlet version of a year end report was more accessible to the public than traditional reports, and that this was their main goal.

I forgot to ask "What about transparency?".

So those are our choices - either a glorified edition of Owl magazine and a 500 page bureaucratic bowel movement.

Fashion week closes with Free Bud Light Lime

Ottawa fashion week closed tonight in the Rideau Center's newest restaurant, EXchange Pub. I was there to snap picture of, well, anything I could find; newspapers love pictures. I always get to assignments early because I'm new to the reportage, and most of the time I have no idea what is going on.

The most interesting part of my evening was either meeting Ryan Gosling's first agent, or flirting with two young bankers from Montreal.

Apparently Gosling, who is from Cornwall, originally wanted to be a singer but t Angie's Model's and Talent gently nudged him to follow acting. When a Man Loves a Woman used to be his go to tune, co-founder Lou Seymor told me. He also informed me that Gosling started a band called Dead Man's Bones, that according to my quick youtube research, preforms exclusively with children.

Flirting with the Hardy Boys wasn't as salacious as learning the details of 12 year-old Ryan Gosling's life, but it beat circling the room looking for something to photograph.

Ironically, the photo of them is under-exposed -yet another reminder that I need to buy a flash.

Blogging. Here goes nothing.

Currently I am interning at the Metro Free Daily in Ottawa. It is a small office with a crack team of reporters. Team seems like an exaggeration, dynamic duo is more accurate. Between the two full time staff and me, Ottawa’s news gets covered each day – in 250 words or less.

My lack of paid employment means I should have the time it takes to commit to an endeavor like blogging. From what I have gathered, persistence online, or anywhere, is key – personal life including.

My hope with each post is to entertain while providing what substance I have to offer.