DRI E october 2009 * drivenmag.com *
$ 8 c a n / US
life.in.motion
f a s h i o n * a u t o m o b i l e s * TE C HNOLO G Y * f i c t i o n * T r a v e l * G e a r * M e n ’ s l i f e s t y l e
JAmie DON’t bet against
* Foxx
Las Vegas’
Love meltdown
Dethroning the
American dollar
un
le
s
ou sy
’r
ep
yi la
ng
po
ke
& girls diamonds
r
*
High-stakes fashion OCT-09
$4.95
10
0
5669893685
5
2010 porsche panamera
tactical advance
+ Exclusive
Original fiction by Lynn Crosbie: Three bad dates, thematically connected by hideousness
Raymond Weil.qxd
8/18/09
4:29 PM
Page 2
Raymond Weil.qxd
8/18/09
4:30 PM
Page 3
Contents The Money issue
32 A Foxx in the courthouse
Singer, stand-up comic, Oscar-winning actor: Jamie Foxx may be a triple threat when it comes to entertaining, but the man claims he’s no threat whatsoever at the poker table. Earl Dittman calls the bluff.
30 WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE MONEY OF TOMORROW?
Less than a decade ago, Canadians debated hitching our loonie to the greenback’s wagon, in an economic marriage of convenience almost inevitably dubbed the “amero.” Paul Brent looks back on those simpler times, when our dollar was worth 63 cents, American banks seemed unassailable, and Canada briefly flirted with putting the “us” in USD.
38 Chemise en scÈne
If you’re going out on the town in the world’s most expensive shirt, you’d best not even consider losing as an option. Photographer DAVID WILE captures man at his best—which is to say, dressed less to the nines than to the five-figured shirt. Before he gambles it all away.
44 Will that be gas or charge?
Socket to us: The electric vehicle, or EV, is finally ready for the spotlight (well, next year, maybe). John Lorinc brings a jolt of practical analysis to all the hype with an examination of the EV infrastructure, which still has miles to go despite apparently being just around the corner.
38
Features
42
42
Fiction
52
Fashion: On the beach
36
Travel: Distill of the night
“Tales from the trysts,” by Lynn Crosbie.
A seaside feast in the crisp autumn air calls for good food, great company, elegantly-layered tweeds and photography by Richard Sibbald.
For those of us who are single-minded about single malts: Only one distillery offers a beyond-elite en primeur program. Mark Hacking discovers that the price of entry is incalculable—though it does necessitate a trip to Scotland’s Speyside, home to the Macallan Estate.
On the cover Jamie Foxx Photography Richard Sibbald Location Toronto, ON
36 DRIVEN October 2009 * drivenmag.com
casino fashion Suit Prada, Shirt Louis Vuitton, Pocket square Eton Photography by David Wile; styling by Luke Langsdale
Cover automobile: Porsche Panamera, photography by Frank Orel; Fiction illustration by Lisa Vanin
Only at
Contents 20
18
24
22
Departments
See this durable, stylish Motorola VE465 Active Edition mobile phone? For a chance to brrinnng it home (yes: keep it, too), visit: DRIVENmag.com/phone
18 PERSONALITY
Former Toronto Maple Leaf Stew Gavin’s rink-onomics
46 AUTOMOTIVE
2010 Porsche Panamera 2010 Cadillac CTS Sport Wagon 2009 Ford Fiesta
20 FLASH
Luxury lifestyle, by the slice
27 SEX
Hookers, fine lines & sinking: the wages of Sin City
22 LOOK
26 DRINK
In praise of the classic cocktail
28 WORDS
Business books, and the financiers who flip through ’em
21 Fragrances
New web-exclusive features every issue, new content every weekday
>>
the aviatrix reloaded Oscar-winner Hilary Swank discusses the ups and downs of filming the aero-bio-pic, Amelia
>>
SubaruFOUNDLAND The rough-hewn (or, character-building) roads of the Rock prove a worthy adversary for the 2010 Legacy, the very latest —and greatest?—from Subaru
>>
Weapon of voice Edmonton’s poet laureate, Cadence Weapon, on the art and science behind building a sound
>>
Don’t “green shoot” the messenger A survey of current expert opinions about whether the economy is really in recovery, or whether we’re just at a little peak between the troughs
Autumn-matic for the people
24 BYTES
MMO money, MMO problems
62 Graphique
Funny business, by Pete Von Sholly
The call to adventure says, Dress appropriately Look fashion For clothes and gear, see page 22; for where to buy, see page 60 Photography by Richard Sibbald; styling by Luke Langsdale
10 DRIVEN October 2009 * drivenmag.com
DRIVENmag.com
Hockey painting photo by Leanna Gosse
From the Editor
DRIVEN: life.in.motion Editor-in-chief Gary Butler Creative director Kelly Kirkpatrick Managing editor Mark Hacking Assistant editor Eric Grant Fashion Luke Langsdale Fiction Nathan Whitlock Editors at large Zach Feldberg, Mark Moyes Contributing photo editor Lindsay Murrell Editorial intern Geneva Fong Art interns Victoria Kouvchinova, Stephanie Shin Fashion interns Jesse Brook, Jessica Maiorano
CARDS SPEAK Crisis? What crisis? (Supertramp, 1975) Money is the theme this issue, but freedom is the leitmotif. If you substitute freedom for time in ye olde “equals money” formula, it should make slightly more sense. Slightly. Not that I intend to discuss the global economy, here, because more qualified journalists than I can do the same with more informed opinion and far, far fewer words. Rather, I want to address the admittedly abstruse real-world fulfillment of a different catchphrase: the one about money making the world go ’round. For as much as the iPod, b. 2001, has been lauded for setting music free—making it truly portable, that is, because apparently Napster, d. 2001 (coincidence, I’m sure), brought about music’s actual “liberation”—I want to salute Canada’s Interac card, b. 1994, which, like Aspirin, Xerox and Liquid Paper, b. 1899, 1906 and 1951, has become our accepted definition for flat, rectangular, plastic, easy-access debit. Interac’s facility of use brings the world to Canada’s doorstep in a way that credit cards never will and traveller’s cheques never could. A high roller or a penny-pincher: in 2009, it almost doesn’t matter.
12 DRIVEN October 2009 * drivenmag.com
Everyone’s watching their bank books. As to that aforementioned set of jetters: While I’m not necessarily a formal member, I’m at the very least a cardcarrier. You see, Interac counts. I travel internationally a minimum of eight times a year for DRIVEN, and I stopped going to bricks-and-mortar financial institutions for hard currency back at the turn of the millennium. The same is probably true for many of you—hence our take-it-for-granted attitude towards our bank cards. (Or, per the branding of the bank with which I deal, my “green” card.) A friend recently stood in line at an old-school bank—you know, the kind with tellers—for 45 minutes, to exchange money for a trip. Sorry, but I just can’t imagine it; nor can I imagine him being there without either a book, b. 1800 BC, or, the traveller’s minimum necessity, an iPod (sorry: iPhone, b. 2007)—but it takes all kinds. The kicker is that my friend reached the front only to learn that his branch —semi-downtown, you understand— did not carry euros, b. 1999. He may as well have tried to order a black coffee in a financial-district Starbucks, b. 1971. Speaking of which: I’d like to propose that we revise The Economist’s witty “Big Mac index,” b. 1986, which
measures purchasing-power parity, via the adjusted price of the ubiquitous, almost no matter where in the world one finds oneself, Big Mac, b. 1967. This spring, in Dubai, b. 1979 (arguably), I was delighted to find that I could buy a Starbucks coffee with...my Starbucks card, go figure. Said delight expired upon learning that my card charged me slightly more, but more nonetheless, than the three times I would have paid in dirham. Until Ray Kroc’s company gets its own card— pause to shudder—I say we call this measurement the “Starbucks index.” As to debit cards: their lessthan-obvious beauty is that they let us manage our international pocket money through our basic bank accounts. They charge marginally lower, but lower nonetheless, exchange rates than credit cards, and they’re certainly easier to “cash” than traveller’s cheques. Short of actually being jetpacks, they make it easier for globe-trotting Canadians to interac(t). A groaner, yes. Still, there’s something to be said for the fact that we can even consider taking a light-hearted look at the economics of international travel, sitting on the heels of a crisis, d. 2010—let’s hope. -GARY BUTLER
Contributors Michael Bettencourt, Paul Brent, Leah Cameron, Lynn Crosbie, Earl Dittman, Murray Foster, Leanna Gosse, Jubert Gutierrez, John Lorinc, Frank Orel, Adam Pesce, Richard Sibbald, Lisa Vanin, Pete Von Sholly, Robert Watson, Elizabeth Walker, David Wile, Betty Wong Account managers Stéphanie Massé stephanie@DRIVENmag.com, 514.476.1171 Vincent Noël vincent@DRIVENmag.com, 514.824.7191 Advertising coordinator Melissa Bissett, 514.684.6426 Finance director Alina Calin, 514.369.3222 Administration assistant Louise Bourgeois, 450.308.0741 x227 Printer Solisco Marketing director Larry Futers, 416.407.8338 InField Marketing Group Publisher Michel Crépault DRIVEN magazine 412 Richmond Street East, suite 200 Toronto, Ont. M5A 1P8 416.682.3493 DRIVENmag.com Issue #29 ISSN 1712-1906 Auto Journal Inc. CP 930 Coteau-du-Lac, Que. J0P 1B0 450.308.0741 DRIVEN is published five times per year. No part of this periodical may be copied or reprinted without the written consent of the publisher. Subscription for one year: $20 (plus applicable taxes); $50 US surface; all other countries, $100 airmail. For subscription inquiries, call 450.308.0741 x250.
Editor’s photo by Richard Sibbald; styling by Luke Langsdale; shirt by Eton
contributors
JOHN LORINC Toronto-based journalist John Lorinc writes for The Globe and Mail, Spacing magazine and The New York Times’ Green Inc. blog. He is a winner of several National Magazine Awards and his book The New City, which addresses urban decline in Canada, was selected for The Globe and Mail’s 100 Best Books list in 2006. Lorinc and his wife, Victoria Foote, own a 2001 Ford Focus station wagon, which now seems to be suffering from multiple organ failure. Their approach to automotive energy efficiency mostly involves leaving the thing rotting on the road. Foote takes public transit to her office and Lorinc, a freelancer, hoofs a laptop over to the local Starbucks. They’ve thought about hybrids and fuel-efficient compacts, but really just fantasize about driving the Focus into Lake Ontario and getting a car-sharing account. Garage-less, the Foote/Lorinc family represents a tough riddle for the EV industry (“Charge of the electric brigade,” p44): urban, energy-conscious, occasional drivers who are interested in Car 2.0, provided that the price is right and that the act of recharging it isn’t a study in inconvenience.
14 DRIVEN October 2009 * drivenmag.com
LEANNA GOSSE Call her the “accidental shooter,” because Leanna Gosse discovered her inner photographer during a fateful three-week road trip in 2001 that saw her buy $400 worth of disposable cameras, to avoid boredom, while an obsessive friend shot with a Nikon F3. When the two compared results, they couldn’t tell them apart. Gosse got a real camera and her friend got over it (eventually). An animation designer by day for Nelvana Ltd., Gosse now specializes in portrait photography. Recent subjects include Entertainment Tonight Canada host Cheryl Hickie, Toronto radio personality Billie Holiday and, shot exclusively for the Summer 2009 DRIVEN, Blue Jays’ manager Cito Gaston. In terms of this issue’s shoot with former Toronto Maple Leafs player turned financial advisor Stew Gavin (“Economic enforcer,” p18), Gosse says that she clearly came out ahead: the clean-cut money-mover gave her an autographed hockey card, featuring a very young Gavin and a very vintage mullet.
RICHARD SIBBALD One of Canada’s most recognized fashion photographers, Richard Sibbald (“The verdict on Jamie Foxx,” p32) has that undefinable knack for catching subjects in the moment. His combination of an expressive approach with hard exposure is a style much in demand with magazines, record companies, athletes and fashion labels; Jack White, Andre Agassi and Vin Diesel have all been recently captured by Sibbald’s lens in photos that define emotional intensity. (Speaking of which, look no further than this issue’s commanding cover shot, taken during the sole Canadian stop on Jamie Foxx’s recent tour.) Over the last year, Sibbald has developed and executed numerous high-concept fashion shoots for DRIVEN, including the National Magazine Awards–nominated “Circus of the strange” (October 2008) and this issue’s “Fall forward” (p52). He is also responsible for making DRIVEN’s Editor-in-chief look smart in every “From the Editor” photo—though Sibbald draws the line at knotting the ties.
LYNN CROSBIE Lynn Crosbie often gets all ginned up and photographs herself in wigs from her large, unkempt collection, which now includes a “semi” from the Jessica Simpson line. A lover of sharp objects, salt and Michael Jackson, she did her Ph.D on the Confessional poetry of Anne Sexton, a woman who used her Guggenheim grant to buy a swimming pool. Crosbie is a cultural critic and regular with The Globe and Mail, where her column “Pop Rocks,” largely about her uncomfortable loathing of Jennifer Aniston, appears each Tuesday. Her last book, Liar, is about her ex-boyfriend, who reportedly finds the whole enterprise repellent. The stories that comprise “Tales from the trysts” (p42) are from an upcoming collection called All the Beautiful Things, and were tailored to suit this magazine’s sexy and dirty sensibility; she hopes that they make your skin crawl. Crosbie previously wrote about Lydia Hearst for DRIVEN, and currently lives with Brock, an Ultimate Fighting Champion, Francis, a perfect dog, and two feral cats, who probably have names. She draws from life in her work, then slaps life around a bit to let life know who’s the boss. It is no small coincidence that the Tony Danza/ Judith Light sitcom, Who’s the Boss? is her favourite TV show—one that she often, and patiently, explains to her frightened OCAD University students.
Scene * 3.
2.
1.
4. 3.
Grey Goose SoHo House TIFF Party for Harry Brown (1, 2, 3) Grey Goose Vodka took over a Toronto subway station for its Harry Brown TIFF party. At the celeb-packed event, the film’s star, Sir Michael Caine, grabbed hold of Harry Brown director Daniel Barber [photo 1] for what looked to be an almost-literal bit of mugging for the camera. Meanwhile, Sam Neill enjoyed a no-doubt staggeringly masculine conversation with Clive Owen [photo 2], as Grey Goose master mixologist Dimitri Lezinska prepared a raft of custom-designed, Hogtown-themed cocktails [Photo 3].
5. 6.
7.
Le Mois de la Photo à Montréal (4) The city of Montréal kicked off the 11th edition of its bi-annual celebration of photographic art on September 10 (the event runs through October 11). The theme for this year’s exposition is “The Spaces of the Image,” and the opening event saw Guest Curator Gaëlle Morel lead a guided tour of the exhibitions in Les Ateliers Jean Brillant [photo 4]. Calgary Zoo Zoogala (5) On September 11, the Calgary Zoo held the 2009 edition of its annual Zoogala fundraiser. “Allure—India Unveiled” saw guests treated to a taste of the cuisine, music, and culture of the subcontinent [photo 5]. VIPs had a rare chance to explore behind-the-scenes operations, and come face-to-face with some of the zoo’s furry, feathered and scaly residents. As for who was wilder, the animals or the VIPs—that remains a subject for debate.
8. Harbour Sixty 10th anniversary (6, 7, 8) Toronto’s recently-renovated Harbour Sixty Steakhouse showed off its modern, luxurious new look during its 10th anniversary party, on September 9. The restaurant’s redesign comes courtesy of internationally-renowned architect and designer Dee Dee Hannnah, and the guest list ranged from the lean and lovely— Miss Universe Canada Mariana Valente [photo 6] and actor Mena Suvari (escorted by her fiancé, Canadian music producer Simone Sestito) [photo 7]—to the big and beefy, like former NHLers Tie Domi, Paul Coffey and Ron Duguay [photo 8].
16 DRIVEN October 2009 * drivenmag.com
EVENT PHOTOS: Harry Brown party, by Richard Young; Le Mois de la Photo, by Claire Moeder; Zoogala, by Phil Porth; Harbour Sixty, by George Pimentel
Personality *
Economic enforcer
Former NHLer Stew Gavin helps hockey players keep their cash on ice By Murray Foster
It’s a glory-to-gutters tale every bit as familiar as a breakaway cut short by a bodycheck: Hockey star opens restaurant, hockey star’s restaurant goes under, hockey star loses shirt. Make that, “jersey.” The NHL landscape is littered with stories of players losing huge chunks of their net worth because of shady financial advice—or no advice at all. A recent debacle saw a group of about 25 players, including former Montreal Canadien Joe Juneau, each invest upwards of half-a-million dollars in Mexican real estate and golf-course developments. Juneau filed suit against his unlicensed advisor last December, alleging that there was almost no accounting for the projects’ finances, and scant evidence that the money was even invested; a separate suit for $40 million was filed by 19 players against the developer. The granddaddy of all NHL horror stories has to be that of former Detroit Red Wings star Sergei Federov, who was swindled out of $43 million, over approximately a decade, by a friend, Joe Zada—although the situation ended happily in August of this year, when Federov won a $60-million settlement. Former Toronto Maple Leaf left-winger (1980-85) Stew Gavin says that he feels the pain when he sees his often too-trusting peers “get in with the wrong people. Someone buys you a beer, suddenly you’re loaning them money? It’s wrong; it’s devastating.” Since retiring from hockey in 1995, Gavin has not only avoided stereotypical shady deal pitfalls, he has actually made a second career out of helping other NHL players avoid similar traps.
18 DRIVEN October 2009 * drivenmag.com
In 1993, the tenacious stick-handler founded Gavin Management Group, which specializes in financial advice for pro hockey players. Current clients range from veterans like Tomas Kaberle and Nik Antropov to up-and-comers like Jiri Tlusty and Tyler Cuma. The company guides active NHLers in the creation of financial plans that allow them never to worry about money after the last puck drops. The challenge is bigger than it seems: The average pro-hockey career lasts a mere five years, and most players are young and easily tempted by a lavish lifestyle. Even so, the first advice Gavin offers every one of his clients could have come straight out of a parental lecture: Save your money and know your cash flow. Hockey players need to be reminded of these basic principles, he says, because the high-flying lifestyle of a pro athlete is not sustainable in the long term, despite seeming so in the moment. “When guys are making two million dollars, they think there’s all this money,” Gavin says. “After taxes and lifestyle expenses like fancy cars, invariably, there’s not a lot left.” Aside from the dangers posed by potential swindles and living la vida lavish, even legitimate business investments can prove financially disastrous. In Gavin’s opinion, the hospitality industry—notably restaurants and bars—ranks among the worst high-profile, high-risk investments that any sports player can make. Even if pro athletes have the cash flow to finance such ventures, they rarely have the life experience to make such a business succeed. “Being a good player does not mean that you’ll
be a good bar owner,” Gavin says, and he goes so far as to equate buying a restaurant with gambling. Invest in a restaurant or go to Vegas? “It’s the same risk. It might work out—but you should plan on losing everything.” Interestingly, Gavin notes that the recent worldwide stock market meltdown did not heavily impact his clients, mainly because of his strategy of preserving existing capital, avoiding risk, and accumulating new capital through income. “There was some impact, but it was minor because [my clients] tend to have high cash balances, secure investments and government bonds that preserve the overall value of their portfolios.” This is not to say that there weren’t some financial casualties. Many hockey players are only happy when they’re earning 25 per cent every year, and it’s that kind of high exposure to risk that wiped out more than a few fortunes in last year’s downturn. “Those guys found that out too late, and they were done,” says Gavin, pointing out that none of the unnamed players in question were clients of his. Gavin adds that there are plenty of financial success stories to be told in hockey, every year—they just command fewer headlines. One such example is former Calgary Flames captain Jim Peplinski, with whom Gavin played in junior hockey. Peplinski earned a commerce degree during his early hockey years, and then applied it in various businesses around Calgary. “It evolved into a very successful second career,” Gavin says. In terms of GMG’s current client list, Gavin allows that there are a few standout investors, including Jarome Iginla, who “didn’t know what a mutual fund or a stock was” at age 19 when the two men first met. Through both consulting and his own research, the high-scoring right-winger [CONTINUED ON p61]
Photo by Leanna Gosse
Flash *
A piece of a slice of
the pie
Fractional ownership puts exclusive items within easier reach By Mark Hacking
Although I can’t attest in person to the following Sex in the City–related anecdote—I’m a man, after all—I’ve been given to believe that last year’s feature film contained a scene wherein Sarah Jessica Parker’s assistant admitted to renting a Louis Vuitton purse, in order to impress in a job interview. Call it, Shock of the Lou(is). To be technical, “renting” is a misnomer—in reality, the character describes herself as a “fractional owner” of the purse. But is there really a difference? The fractional ownership phenomenon began in the early 1990s, with real-estate developers offering shares in Rocky Mountain ski resorts. Prior to that was the infamous “timeshare opportunity,” a term saddled with so much baggage, it needs its own full-time porter. While the appeal of having a piece of a piece of property hasn’t changed much since the early days, the image certainly has. In fact, in the real estate world, fractional ownership has taken on a more respectable sheen. These types of deals give buyers a share of a property, but still only enough to secure part-time access to said property. It’s also worth noting that most people don’t purchase slices of real estate with investment in mind—it’s strictly a lifestyle decision. Which ultimately makes them an alternate approach to vacationing, not much different from a timeshare. Still, since its inception, the idea of fractional ownership has moved far beyond property and into various other big-ticket purchases. Private jets, for instance, were another early winner in the fractional
20 DRIVEN October 2009 * drivenmag.com
ownership sweepstakes. Despite airplane sales suffering in the current economy, partial ownership is soaring. “This economy has taught some people lessons about using their money more efficiently,” says Stan Kuliavas of AirSprint Private Aviation, a leading supplier based in Toronto. “What people are looking for is better balance sheet–optics and more fiscal responsibility.” For evidence that this is more than a recessionfuelled fad, one need only visit FractionalLife.com, the UK’s largest fractional consumer portal. The site lists 19 different categories from 300 different suppliers, offering everything from vacation properties to private jets, yachts, exotic cars, racehorses and, yes, handbags. There’s certainly something to be said for paying a “club membership” fee for the luxury of trading up luxuries—in this light, the idea of wearing a different six-figure watch every month becomes, for lack of a better word, affordable. “The days of conspicuous consumption are over,” reports Piers Brown, Fractional Life’s founder. The current economy, he says, has made consumers reassess their material needs. “It’s not necessarily what you own, but rather what you do that is important. Fractional ownership will be a major part of the luxury consumer’s mindset over the next few years.” A recent report from New York–based advertising agency J. Walter Thompson supports this theory, in addition to identifying a wider societal trend: “Fractional ownership is moving beyond the shared
planes of the jet-setting elite. As technology for pooling demand and resources becomes increasingly sophisticated, this model will be applied in an even wider range of categories.” In other words: Just about anything you can own, you can alternately own part of. Brown, who wrote his MBA thesis on the topic before launching Fractional Life in 2006, identifies some of the most unusual offerings on the market—and it’s nothing mundane or obvious as high-end cars, boats or planes. At TruffleTree.com, clients can purchase shares in the titular tree—specifically, an oak tree in Gascony that provides the perfect breeding ground for the beloved fungus. At SliceThePie.com, UK music fans play an active role in the traditional A&R process, reviewing tracks, recommending new artists for financing and then investing in them, themselves. Finally, people looking to own part of a calico cat—really, who isn’t?—really should drop in at CafeCalico.com for, ahem, a chat. The fractional ownership movement has become so prevalent, a new marketing buzzword has been generated: “transumers,” or people whose ownership of property and other items is considered transient. In the future, there’s no telling what might be up for partial sale. But if Joe Blow can gain access to even the most exclusive items, won’t this negatively impact luxury brands and the way they market themselves? This opens up a whole new kettle of fish—and a way for everyone to own a piece of that kettle.
Fragrances *
fall oF MAN
Well-seasoned gentlemen know: Ladies like the sweet smell of success
5 6
4
1
By Zach Feldberg Photo by Robert Watson
2
By Zach Feldberg Photography by Robert watson
3
The notion that scents can be defined by sex seems dated at best, archaic at worst. Still, being bold can have its benefits—more so when one’s fragrance is matched to the season. Consider the following examples, perfect for those crisp evenings and longer nights. 1 FRANK NO. 2 FRANK LOS ANGELES Eau de Toilette, 65mL, $70 Each of FRANK’s three boutique fragrances is compelling and unique, but there’s something about this middle child that burns for attention. Frank No. 2 is sweet, but not saccharine; tough, but not overbearing. It opens lightly with notes of lavender and bergamot, but its dry-down is so much deeper, radiating an intoxicating haze of brandy, coffee and wild honey. The woodsy finish is all autumn, top to bottom.
Photo by Tktktk tktk
2 L’EAU DE TAROCCO DIPTYQUE Eau de Cologne, 100mL, $105 These Paris-based scent scientists have always had a preoccupation with natural aromas and premium ingredients, so no surprise that L’eau de Tarocco, their newest fragrance, races out of the gate with notes of grapefruit, blood orange and saffron. Frankly, Tarocco is so immediately citrus-centric that it seems unfair to categorize it as anything other than a summer scent, but time reveals a hidden foundation of ginger, cinnamon and incense that belies its opening statement. This is as complex and bewitching as they come.
3 RUM TONIC AND SYNTHESIZED LOTUS ROOT MALIN+GOETZ Eau de Toilette, 30mL, $50 (per fragrance) New York City’s Malin+Goetz makes a point of suggesting which of its fragrances complement one another; the proposed union of Rum Tonic and Synthesized Lotus Root proves that they know whereof they speak. With its leathery, amber body, Rum deliberately overpowers—but enjoys an easy harmony with its fairer partner, which opens with lotus, then settles into a dry sandalwood and cedar. Quoth a lady friend (really), “It’s a loin-stirring smell, really powerful; it smells like a man should.” There you have it.
4 MUSC BRUNO ACAMPORA Oil, 10mL, $187 The odour of a deer gland—also known as musk—is one of those funny fragrances, like the perineal glands of a civet and regurgitated ambergris (see: Moby-Dick), that flies in the face of civility. These scents are generally produced as synthetic copycats nowadays, but their influence is indelible. Bruno Acampora’s essential oils are firmly entrenched in that history, but its Musc—appealing and animalistic as you’d expect—truly soars. Those unaccustomed to a harsh musk would do well to try this because its unusual vanillaand-sandalwood base lightens the heavy load, only adding to an unforgettable, long-lasting scent.
5 ORIGINAL MUSK KIEHL’S Eau de Toilette, 50mL, $40 Legend has it, Kiehl’s chemists whipped up this oil in the 1920s, but were resigned to stowing it in the basement of their Greenwich Village apothecary because it was “too sensuous for the times.” The vat—labeled “Love Oil”—was uncovered during renovations and released in 1963 to much acclaim. Not undeserved: Kiehl’s Original Musk is rewarding and persistent, playing its light and fresh opening against a heady dry-down of patchouli and, naturally, the ingredient for which it is named. Musk tends to polarize, and this is no exception, but it remains a dark-and-dirty lynchpin that ought to be tried.
6 CALAMUS COMME DES GARCONS Eau de Toilette, 50mL, $88 It is difficult to highlight just one scent from the sprawling Comme des Garcons line; so fall-friendly, though, is its LEAVES sub-series that distinction is practically demanded. Lily, Mint, Tea, and Calamus are all noteworthy members of the LEAVES family, but the last is the strongest of the four, with its exhilarating rush of celery seeds, pepper, and freshly cracked plant stems. Judge this one by its cover: Calamus is as green as a freshly mowed lawn.
DRIVEN October 2009 * drivenmag.com 21
Look *
AdVENTURE
CAPITALIST The last of the summer wine
has been sipped and autumnal adventure beckons. Artist and explorer Derrick Hodgson sports choice outdoor essentials, updated to make any expedition both
Canoe Evergreen Prospector (14')
stylish and more comfortable.
Shirt Eton Hunting vest Post overall
For reviews of all the gear on display, a biography of Hodgson, and suggestions for selected rustic getaways, visit: DRIVENmag.com/explore
Utility pant Post overall Microlite down jacket Rab Boots Red Wing 877 Deck shoes Sebago Dockside Parka Filson Pack Duluth Pack Toque Parkhurst Camera Canon Eos Rebel Xsi Smart phone Blackberry Curve 8900 Where to buy? See “Buyer’s Market,” on page 60
22 DRIVEN October 2009 * drivenmag.com
Adventurer photos by Richard Sibbald
Bytes *
=
=
EVE of instruction Look to the good old Chicago school with regard to monetary theory, advises Reykjavík-based economist Dr. Eyjólfur Guðmundsson. In the long run, he explains, “any stimulus package will only result in inflation if it doesn’t increase production or production efficiency.” You’d be forgiven for thinking that the economy to which the good doctor refers is that of Iceland, which suffered a crisis when its three major banks collapsed one year ago. In actuality, he’s talking about the marketplace within an online video game. EVE Online is an MMO—a ‘massively multiplayer online’ game—that boasts the largest contiguous virtual economy in existence. (The fantasy adventure game World of Warcraft has more users, but on separate servers, essentially comprising hundreds of smaller isolated economies.) Set 21,000 years in the future, EVE tasks its players to mine, manufacture and trade goods in a universe 7,500 star-systems large. In the here and now—2007, anyhow—EVE developer CCP Games hired Guðmundsson to be “a sort of Alan Greenspan for the virtual world,” in the process making him the world’s first economist hired to work on a virtual economy full-time. He wasn’t the first economist to consider a virtual economy in serious terms, though. In 2001, Edward Castronova became an overnight sensation when he published a paper calculating fantasy MMO EverQuest’s Gross National Product. EverQuest players were selling virtual items on eBay for real money, which gave the in-game currency a trading value. In real-money terms, EverQuest was the 77th richest country in the world—richer than India and China. Without a real-world application, that little nugget of information might have been relegated to the cocktail party circuit—until Castronova and others realized the potential of these online universes to act as economic sandboxes. As an example of the kinds of insight that can be gleaned from game economics, researchers have noticed that games that limit the amount of property players can own (usually, in an effort to minimize inequality) aren’t nearly as popular with users as the models that are more purely capitalist. Could this be
24 DRIVEN October 2009 * drivenmag.com
Online games are teaching real-world economists a few hard lessons about risky business By Mark Moyes
considered as evidence that socialism has an inherent problem with economic incentives? For his part, Guðmundsson’s job at EVE is to analyze the game universe’s economy and produce quarterly reports—30-plus page documents that break down population and currency demographics and graph out fluctuations in the market’s Primary Producer Price Index and Consumer Price Index. Players pore over these reports to manage their ingame corporations of the interstellar future. This image of gamers in their basements studying financial data for hours and hours in order to make a few extra credits—well, it’s admittedly hard to imagine. But it’s not just gamers. Guðmundsson’s responsibilities also include creating partnerships with academic institutions to see what real-world lessons can be learned from EVE’s economic data. Here’s another famous (in the right circles) videogame generated insight: Ultima Online suffered an in-game financial crisis when players exploited a bug that allowed them to, essentially, print their own money. Game developers had to drain credits from the system to re-stabilize the economy—a sort of stimulus package in reverse. Vili Lehdonvirta, a virtual consumerism expert at the Helsinki Institute for Information Technology, believes MMOs could be useful in studying behavioral economics—the examination of psychological and emotional influences on economic decisions. Traditionally, conclusions are drawn from surveys and controlled experiments. “The challenge is how to study sociological-level phenomena, like consumer confidence. You can’t just take 15 grad students, ask them to play some game or fill out a form, and hope to discover these kinds of effects.” Lehdonvirta’s point: “Virtual economies could be used as a lab.” EVE’s economic system is a particularly capitalist one; Guðmundsson describes it as Machiavellian, because almost everything is permitted. EVE got real-world media coverage last February (from the BBC and CBC, to name two outlets) when the CEO of the game’s largest bank stole billions from depositors. Note that nothing in the game rules prevents
this behaviour, and there was no bailout from the developers. The consumer-confidence problem, then, is a perfect comparison point for economists studying EVE. “Trying to regain trust in the real-life financial world is just as difficult as for people who want to operate a bank in EVE,” says Guðmundsson. There is much debate, though, about how much these virtual-lab results can be directly applied to real life. Lehdonvirta warns against drawing the wrong parallels with real-world economies. Although he thinks MMO-game study can help researchers improve their models of human behaviour, he is uncertain as to how much can be inferred about the nature and performance of economies as a whole. He is critical of Castronova’s GNP calculations. “In virtual economies, the only goods you have are swords and spaceships. It’s not possible to construct a comparative basket of goods.” Guðmundsson agrees, to a point. As MMOs have different rules and systems, “maybe a policy in a virtual world might not work in the real world.” Still, he feels that there is validity to the idea that because we can see how different sets of policies work within a virtual world, “using the same set of regulations and rules in the real world would get similar results.” EVE’s in-game bank fraud serves as a reasonable parallel. In terms of the current world economic crisis, Guðmundsson suggests that “maybe the banks behaved the way they did because they knew the government was going to come in and save the deposits of the investors.” The real-life system takes responsibility away from investment bankers, “hence, they take more risks than they would otherwise.” Guðmundsson’s ideal real-world economy would mirror EVE’s—to the extent of placing a greater onus on consumers and producers. “They would be more responsible for their own choice, and couldn’t trust as much in the government providing them with protection.” Still, it raises the question: Are higher-risk economic systems better suited to the excitement of gaming than to the practicality of living? Not to Guðmundsson. “The more freedom that the individual has, the more fun of a life both to play and live in.”
driven_cad.indd 1
02/09/09 13:23:06
2010 CTS SEDAN Award-winning combination of luxury and performance with available All-Wheel Drive and 3.6L Direct Injection V6.
The world’s fastest V8 production sedan which goes from 0–60 mph (0–96 km/h) in 3.9 seconds.
2010 CTS -V The latest evolution of the CTS family with 1643 litres of cargo storage and available All-Wheel Drive.
WORKING HARD AND PLAYING HARD SHOULDN’T REQUIRE A DIFFERENT SET OF KEYS.
cadillac.gm.ca
Happy hour redux
Drink *
Cheer up and take the edge off. Of course during work hours—when else? By Leah Cameron
Blame it on Mad Men madness, or the unsettling swings in world markets this past year, but the classic cocktail “Happy Hour” is coming back (even if the HH’s discount-drink motif remains technically illegal in most Canadian bars). Your office can always use a little cheer— hence the following classic barware must-haves for your “make that a double”-dealings. Bar chefs and mixologists are just too chi-chi. While we reluctantly admire the way they can blast a fig with honey, grate in sprinkles of tonka beans, muddle the whole lot with fuji apple juice and strain it into a martini glass, we also know that modern, masculine movers and shakers crave back-to-basics booze, like dry martinis and scotches on rocks. It’s time for day-drinks to be less flamboyant and easier to make, dammit! Yes, we’ll take a taxi home. 1
1 The Savoy Cocktail Book Bone up on the classics with this vintage manual, complete with art deco illustrations. Lucius Books, $587
26 DRIVEN October 2009 * drivenmag.com
3
4
2
2 Bella di Cerignola Martini olives by Olio A giant bottle that’s perfect for late-night poker marathons. The Olive Pit, $33
3 Cut lead crystal scotch decanter Only the most self-conscious tippler needs labels; this decanter stands on its own merits. Birks, $150
4 Payne Manufacturing vintage martini shaker The same classic cocktail shakers they’ve been making since the 1950s. paynemfg.com, $20
Photos by Richard Sibbald (cocktail shaker and decanter), Betty Wong (olives), Luciusbooks.com (book)
Sex *
Las Vegas’ new bottom line Explaining the sexual slowdown in Sin City By Elizabeth Walker The economy is terrible all over, and the desert playground known as Las Vegas has not been immune in the least. According to stats from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitor’s Authority, upwards of one third of tourists have disappeared from the Strip during this year of “staycations.” It’s not just tourism that’s down. Pre-recession, the city that sin built had been emerging as a first-class venue, consciously redesigned, for trade shows and conventions. To date in 2009, these bookings dropped by roughly one quarter. The trickle-down: almost a million fewer potential lonely suckers seeking cheap thrills far from home. Some numbers are up, though. Desperate newcomers looking to score in the sex trade, whether as strippers or as escorts, are flooding a market that’s arguably already glutted. On slow nights at mega-strip clubs like the Spearmint Rhino, the 300 girls on the dance floor easily outnumber the patrons. Former sex worker Susan Lopez, now with the Desiree Alliance (company credo: “Civil, labor, and human rights for all sex workers”), notes that those she represents are reporting that the money is definitely down, particularly for workers chasing middle-income clients. These observations are backed up by posts on web forums where working girls exchange advice, gossip, and complaints. Word is that the proverbial high roller who drops a couple grand a night on company is not downsizing his lifestyle in the least. Same goes for the guy who lets off some steam at the local girlie bar after a factory shift. It’s the men who arrive on a budget package weekend, or with a padded expense account, looking to live like a king—they’re the ones the working girl has to watch out for. These are the types who hassle, and who look to test their “skills” at bartering and double-dealing. Last year, the Las Vegas Sun reported that ladies charging around $650 (US) are the most affected by the downturn. Lopez confirms that this year, while high-end escorts may be seeing a slight dip in the number of calls they receive, their bottom line isn’t much affected. Those who serve the low end of the spectrum (i.e. streetwalkers and girls on Craigslist)
Photo courtesy of ActionSportsInc.com
are scooping up much of the formerly mid-range traffic—clients seeking no-strings-attached fun on a budget. And many of the remaining mid-range customers are arguing price points of $400, to which fewer and fewer girls can afford to say no. Another sign of slow times is plastic surgeons hawking “Recession-Proof Your Body” packages; most clients, of course, are exotic dancers. The rea-
soning: In a down market, it might be an opportune time to invest for the hard road ahead. As strip clubs are attracting record numbers of newbie dancers, the seasoned girls are responding by covering their assets. Experienced dancers need other ways to boost their returns, which, if they play their cards right, can be anywhere from $500-$3,000 a night. So what’s a girl to do? Some sabotage the new
blood with extra-stiff drinks to throw off their game. Others bribe DJs to play crap songs for the newcomers—consider, if you dare, the torture of pole-dancing to Nickelback all night. Of course, the tried-and-true method of greasing the club staff to guarantee first crack at the VIPs will always hold fast. (Experienced girls know that VIPs are meal tickets; few dancers are above spending the entire night in a private-dance room in hopes of punching said tickets. Despite what comedian Chris Rock maintained in his song “No Sex (in the Champagne Room),” behind-the-scenes is indeed where the real goods and services are exchanged.) Las Vegas Weekly writer “Justice” is a 24-year-old stripper who describes the aforementioned dirty tricks in her blog. While she writes about the pressure for new talent to get nasty with the bump and grind, she also reminds girls that “there is always another customer out there who is willing to pay for clean dances.” Still, some girls feel they can’t afford to have “rules,” especially if there are mouths at home to feed. Here is a crisis in capitalism if there ever was one. Increasing competition in a shrinking marketplace means a race to the bottom, which can be a dangerous place for a fella looking for a good time. To wit: This year, the Las Vegas PD announced an 87 per cent jump in reported “trick rolls”—wherein a client gets scammed by a prostitute, violently or otherwise. (It’s the inexperienced girls who are more likely to pull a fast one on clients, often pushed by their pimps.) Finally, it’s worth remembering that prostitution is in fact illegal in Las Vegas City, and there were more than 7,000 vice arrests last year. Smart, professional girls are worth the extra cash because they know how to keep their noses clean—and their clients’ names out of the newspapers. But to all things there is a season. Now is when the conventions should be pouring back into the city, hopefully with government stimulus money in their wallets. Lopez says the girls she knows are hoping to see an upswing in their fortunes. The old adage will always hold, though: You get what you pay for. Even—perhaps especially—when it comes to exotic entertainment.
DRIVEN October 2009 * drivenmag.com 27
Words *
bon mots for
business Words of wisdom from top financiers—and from the books that help keep them in the black By Adam Pesce
In times of crisis, we often turn to the experts for guidance and leadership. As it turns out, many of those experts do the same. Here’s some reading material for you: books that a few of Canadian high finance’s brightest minds looked to for insight over the past year of economic uncertainty. These works—and the testimonies of their power-appointed readers—stand as proof positive that sometimes the best place to look for a fresh perspective is in the not-so-distant past.
Tom Caldwell
Eric Sprott
Bill Harris
Chairman, Caldwell Securities Recommends: Lost on Bay Street—I Came, I Saw, I Almost Conquered, by Alex Doulis (ECW Press, 2007) This first-person overview of the critical mistakes made in the ’70s that helped form Bay Street as we know it today is equal parts apologia and vitriol. “It is always important to learn from the mistakes of the past,” says Caldwell. “In this case, the lesson is that hubris is the killer.”
CEO, Sprott Asset Management Recommends: Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable, by Nassim Nicholas Taleb (Random House, 2007) Herein, a look at the unexpected and unforeseen events—or ‘Black Swans’—that inevitably transpire and cause commensurate, massive ramifications in the financial sector. “The two per cent of situations that remain unaccounted for always seem to be the disasters that occur,” notes Sprott. “This book made me stop and consider what seemed impractical, and how to prepare for situations that could be caused.”
Partner, Avenue Investment Management Recommends: Wall Street: From Its Beginnings to the Fall of Enron, by Charles R. Geisst (Oxford University Press, 1999; expanded and reissued in 2004) A chronological examination of the highs and lows of the stock market that continues to stand as the centre of the world’s economy. “The financial crisis of 1907 is practically identical to what we are going through today, except that now it’s a global crisis and there are derivatives to worry about,” says Harris. “We learned from that disaster [1907] that public money will solve the financial side of the crisis—time will fix the economic side.”
28 DRIVEN October 2009 * drivenmag.com
Paul_Shark.qxd
7/27/09
11:32 AM
Page 2
If Europe has the euro, shouldn’t North America have the amero? Absolutely not—now, more than ever By Paul Brent
Ameri/Can
confetti
B
etween the Canadian dollar achieving parity with its US counterpart in September 2007 and the ongoing worldwide economic crisis that started one year later—in the States—it’s hard to believe that at the top of this decade, the idea of a common North American currency was an urgent topic of discussion among Canadian dollar doomsayers. 30 DRIVEN October 2009 * drivenmag.com
“The debate should now turn to dollarization—either the adoption [by Canada] of the US dollar, or a common currency,” urged Sherry Cooper, BMO Nesbitt Burns’ chief economist, in 2001. Eight years later, the idea of hitching our currency with the United States feels, much like the economic optimism spurred by sub-prime mortgages, odd and dated. If anything, Canada has been rewarded
Money map concept by Jubert Gutierrez; collage illustration by Victoria Kouvchinova
for not stampeding into what would have been a bottom-of-the-market dollar deal. When the crisis hit last October, our banks, tightly controlled, did not trigger the implosion of our financial system (as was the case with American banks); currently, our housing market remains robust, our unemployment rate is reasonable, foreigners still want our natural resources and our economy continues to rebound faster than the US’s. Of course, the turn-of-millennium economy was much different from today’s—and that’s entirely aside from the crisis. Canadians circa 2000 were wallowing in a bout of unprecedented national pessimism, with our loonie, for a time, being valued at less than two-thirds of the US dollar. Using simplistic defeatist logic along the lines of “If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em,” certain financial tub thumpers, like BMO’s Cooper, recommended all-out currency capitulation. The tough-love argument behind some sort of currency union was that such a move would end Canada’s junkie-like dependence on a cheap buck to promote exports, at the same time lowering interest rates and ending the associative currency fluctuation headaches with our largest trading partner. Dollarization quickly became a Left/Right issue in Canada: leftists and nationalists viewed it as a surrender to business interests, while business embraced it on the basis of cost-saving potential. The idea of Canada entering a continental economic union with the States and Mexico took much of its inspiration from the European Union and its euro. Our version even had its own instant nickname, admittedly catchy though inadvertently proAmerican in its continentalism: the ‘amero.’ Perhaps ironically, the term was coined by Vancouver-based economist Herbert Grubel, a senior fellow at the Fraser Institute, who built it into the title of his 1999 book, The Case for the Amero. For Robert Pastor, the Washington, D.C.–based co-director of the Center for North American Studies at American University (and Democratic Party advisor), the appeal of the amero should be pretty obvious, in light of the value of Canada-US trade, to both countries: “Anybody who crosses the border on a regular basis, loses money—each time. Any major firm that trades across the border over an extended period puts itself at considerable risk because of currency variability.” Right now, Canada may be sitting pretty—comparatively pretty, anyhow—but Pastor warns that we should not forget the cost of changing our bucks into their bucks, and back again. “If 80 per cent of your trade is with the United States, and that amounts to [at least] one-third of your gross domestic product, then that transaction cost, as it relates to trade, is a serious burden.” The end result: “It’s a large tax on Canada.” The US pays the price, too, but with a bigger wallet that feels the pinch less. Money-changing costs “act more against Canada and Mexico. The US doesn’t Currency collage by Stephanie Shin
feel it that intensely. That is the argument and,” Pastor adds, “Grubel made that case very well.” Now that Canada is in a position of economic strength, is it the right time to once again table the amero, when our nation could dollarize at a near one-to-one rate? Back in 1999, Grubel could not have foreseen the geopolitics of 2009. This March, dissatisfaction with the States dominance of the international financial system, especially in the wake of the financial crisis, led Russia and China to suggest the creation of a new global currency to supplant the US dollar in that role—a significant statement, considering that these two countries are the world’s largest foreign holders of said dollar. If the greenback’s position as the world standard is under attack, wouldn’t the US want to
shore up its position as top currency dog by bringing both Canada and Mexico into the dollar zone? Not really: Fixing Wall St. and getting Main St. back on its feet will likely command the attention of the Obama administration for years to come. At a time like this, a common currency or some other North America–wide economic linkage would only be a political hot potato, notes Pastor. “It’s too symbolically sensitive for politicians to address, when they haven’t decided whether they even want to approach a continental agenda.” Indeed, where the prospect of a unified North American currency once stirred fear on Canada’s political Left, these days, the amero seems to be most often discussed by xenophobic elements of the US right wing (and, occasionally, by CNN’s Lou Dobbs). Online networks of amero-alarmists believe that the implementation of a continent-wide currency is imminent, part of a secret scheme to do away with US sovereignty and create a single-government North American Union (NAU) as a stepping stone to a sinister One World Government. (These NAU buffs have yet to enjoy the popular culture profile earned by 9/11 “truthers”—who claim that the official account of the attacks of September 11, 2001, is essentially a cover-up—or anti-Obama “birthers”—who suspect the 44th US president was actually born in a foreign country, and is therefore ineligible for the office of Chief Executive—but they still work hard to spread the collected evidence for their cause. Anti-NAUers track individual US states’
plans for so-called “NAFTA highways,” and the occasional meetings among Canada, the US and Mexico to discuss the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America to support their theory. Favourite pieces of physical “evidence” take the form of real-life amero coins, which are alleged to have been issued by the US mint, but are actually part of a series of “fantasy pattern” coin collectibles created by designer Daniel Carr.) If this common-currency concept is less of a hot topic for chief economists than paranoid bloggers, what of the so-called father of the amero? Has Herbert Grubel stopped pushing for economic unification? Although he declined to be interviewed for this story, in a 2008 National Post article, Grubel called for avoiding “Dutch disease” (or, over-reliance on natural resources) by fixing the Canadian dollar at around 90 cents US—the Bank of Canada’s sweet spot for our currency, and not far from where it is right now. He even wrote that such a set-up would work better with a common currency. Grubel himself has admitted that the amero’s success depends entirely on the US participating—which he has further deemed “unlikely.” How does he think Canada can reap the benefits of a common currency without all the messy international political hassle? Through the establishment of an independent currency board, which would “ensure that international payments imbalances automatically lead to changes in Canada’s money supply and interest rates until the imbalances are ended.” Which sounds unimpressive until you realize that his approach circumvents potential actions by the Bank of Canada and the influence of politicians. Still, today more than ever, it’s hard to find anyone on the left or right of the political spectrum calling for a North American monetary ménage à trois. “In the North American case, you give up [monetary policy] to the US,” says Jim Stanford, an economist with the Canadian Auto Workers, addressing both Canada and Mexico when he points out the inevitable imbalance of power. Stanford has seen his union’s membership devastated in part by the loonie’s recent ascent and he believes that the ideal range for the Canadian dollar is 80 cents to the US greenback. He even favours federal intervention to keep it in that range. If the currency that inspired Grubel’s, ahem, coinage of the amero—the euro—is any example, a unified North American money system would likely become a lightning rod for economic grumbling by citizens of all countries involved. A 2007 Financial Times survey on the then eight-year-old euro found that a majority of citizens in the main eurozone countries (which number 16 member states as of January 2009, including France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece) felt that the common currency had negatively impacted the economies of their respective countries. [CONTINUED ON p61] DRIVEN October 2009 * drivenmag.com 31
The verdict on
Jamie Foxx
A man who has everything
is capable of
anything By Earl Dittman
o
scar Wilde famously said something about life imitating art. Earlier this year, Jamie Foxx lived the aphorism firsthand. Foxx’s latest film, Law Abiding Citizen, finds him portraying a District Attorney whose work makes him the target of a bereaved man, hell-bent on revenge for what he believes is justice miscarried. Thing is, at the time the film shoot was wrapping, in Philadelphia, Foxx came face-to-face with his own stalker, who ducked security by simply claiming to be Beyoncé Knowles’ producer. The guy was neither bereaved nor vengeful, but 40 previous arrests—on weapons charges, for extortion, and for stalking—suggest he may have had harmful intentions in mind, despite being in the City of Brotherly Love. “That frightened me,” Foxx says now. “Especially in retrospect, when you think about what could have happened.” He admits that he is uncomfortable being anywhere crowded in public these days, “But I’ve got to stay out there, I’ve got to be who I am.” But who is Jamie Foxx, exactly? It’s actually a pretty fair question. Eric Marlon Bishop, from Terrell, Texas, was born in 1967, and raised by his grandparents to be a music-loving, church-going young man. Jamie Foxx, a Californian, was created in 1989, so-named partly in order to act as an homage to the groundbreaking comedian Redd Foxx—as it happens, also a pseudonym. Today, as Bishop goes exclusively by his stage name (in fact, he was observed not acknowledging it when someone called out “Eric” during a recent Canadian visit), it’s arguable that he has edited Wilde’s laconic observation, such that art has become life. Juggling three different, successful entertainment careers—in film, music and comedy— ‘staying out there’ and ‘being who he is’ means: Being, omnipresently, Jamie Foxx. It’s one thing to be ever on the move, it’s another to be professionally restless. “But you can’t rely on any past success,” he points out. “You’re only as good as your last gig.” He mentions a fan who offered hearty congratulations on an award-winning single, only to ask, “What song was that?” Similar exchanges, he adds, occur more often than he’d like to admit. “It makes you stop and think, Okay, wait a minute—everyone ain’t feeling it.” Photography by Richard Sibbald; photo treatment by Victoria Kouvchinova
Informed self-scrutiny puts Foxx in good company. He mentions a recent conversation with Hollywood long-hauler Clint Eastwood, who said to him, ‘I still get nervous. I still don’t know if [audiences] like it. I still don’t know if they like me.’ “If that’s Eastwood,” Foxx says, “I’ve got a long way to go.” Maybe so, but Foxx has nonetheless been a journeyman since 1991. He cut his teeth on cutting-edge comedy: the TV show In Living Color, whose cast he joined after beating out 300 others in a Wild West–worthy cattle call. A six-year run on his own sitcom followed, which springboarded to a film career, starting with parts that echoed his comic characters—Foxx’s first film lead was, believe it, Booty Call—and shifting to meatier roles in acclaimed dramatic films like Any Given Sunday (1999) and Ali (2001). Everything changed in 2003, the year for which Foxx was awarded a best-actor Oscar, for his uncanny portrayal of Ray Charles in Ray. (Foxx was actually double-nominated that year: He received a supporting-actor nod for his role as Tom Cruise’s unwilling accomplice in the thriller Collateral.) What came next is practically a pre-requisite in American celebrity success: the fall from grace. In 2004, Foxx was charged with trespassing, disturbing the peace, battery and resisting arrest—all to do with a pair of police officers trying to escort him from Harrah’s New Orleans. [Jamie Foxx and casinos are not exactly a match made in Heaven—see sidebar, next page.] It only got worse from there: bad behaviour, bad jokes (unfortunately, Miley Cyrus), a string of ‘girlfriends’ (fortunately, not Miley Cyrus)... If Foxx were a living cliché, demanding the largest trailer on set and earning week-long TMZ appearances would have been just around the corner. But Americans love a comeback. Not to mention a left turn. Enter Jamie Foxx, musician. Bishop had always been one, mind you, and despite the fact that Foxx released an R&B album in 1994, Peep This, it came and went like a Canadian summer. This new stab at singing, hot on the heels of Oscar-minted success, was met with derision and mistrust: Surely, the man was going the way of Eddie Murphy and Bruce Willis.
T
he man turned out to be a Justin Timberlake in reverse. Truly talented (and with plenty of awards to prove it, haters), Foxx’s chart debut was the 2004 hit “Gold Digger,” a collaboration with hip hop–wunderkind Kanye West. A 2005 album followed, ironically called Unpredictable. Extraironic, as it achieved US #1 status, making Foxx only the fourth person in pop-culture history—after, get this, Bing Crosby, Barbara Streisand and Frank Sinatra—to boast both an Academy Award for acting and a number-one album in America. Four years later, there have been more than a half-dozen movies, successful if not entirely acclaimed, and a third album, Intuition, ditto. But it’s not as if anyone is accusing the man of being a dilettante. Whatever Foxx is up to, he’s committed. And if he’s not always at the top of his game, he’s at the very least talented. Not to mention politic: “The awards and the money,” he says, “are just icing on the cake.” Mind you, Foxx has not always shown restraint. While In Living Color was at the height of its popularity, he tried to follow, fast, in the footsteps of former castmate Jim Carrey. The film roles didn’t roll in, though the ego inflated. “I’d gotten so into myself,” he recalls. “I thought everyone was watching In Living Color—everyone wasn’t. So, I got lost.” Lost enough to no longer recognize his friends, and himself. “I remember going on-stage one day and doing rich jokes in front of these folks from the ’hood. I said, Yeah, man, I just got that Range Rover—anyone else? They were, like, What are you talking about?” Foxx bounced back, mentally, that same night. Exiting the club after his disastrous set, he couldn’t help but overhear wild applause for the comic who followed.
The Michael Jordan of the justice system?
C L.A. King
Jamie Foxx is a safe bet By Gary Butler; interview, Kelly Kirkpatrick
34 DRIVEN October 2009 * drivenmag.com
omedian, actor, singer. There’s a lot of talk, some of it in the pages of this magazine, about Jamie Foxx being a “triple threat,” given his affinity for switching from one form of artistic expression to another with an ease equal to David Bowie’s ’70s heyday. Fair enough—like Britain and America, this man’s got talent. But mid-summer, on the sole Canadian stop for Foxx’s “Blame it” tour, the triplicate man demonstrated a previously under-appreciated, or at least under-the-radar, business sense. Consider that Foxx was in Toronto for one night—and day—to play a concert. During that day, he managed to do a public shilling stint for LG in the morning, “mentor” a Toronto-based would-be music superstar (whose name escapes us, though we’ll be thrilled when it all pays off for the lad) for CTV in the afternoon, knock ’em dead during his
Re-entering, he saw “a young, thin black guy with bulging eyes, Chris Tucker: he was killing them. I sat down and thought, I need to go back and find what it is that I do; I don’t want to ever slip like that again.’ You can forgive a guy for a bit of hubris in the year of an Oscar win, though. Plus, maintaining a threepronged career would keep any show business pro busy. “You just have to learn how to balance your time, and believe it or not, it’s fairly easy,” he says. How easy? He does a movie for four months, then turns to music and stand-up between the film gigs. “It’s amazing to go from a doing a big action movie, then, all of a sudden, you are in a room with Kanye West. Now, that’s fun.” Positive fun remains the order of the day, at least for Foxx in 2009. His concert tour is called “Blame It,” and the video for the same-named single is self-dep worthy of The Lonely Island. Awards are great, he allows, but “I look at the Oscar like winning the Super Bowl: You win a championship and then go back to training camp to get ready for next season. I might never have more seasons like I did for Collateral or Ray, but I definitely know the formula of hard work.” He sure does. The aforementioned Law Abiding Citizen sees Foxx take on the role of a single-minded District Attorney who stops at nothing to further his career. We can imagine some Machiavelli on the bedside table. “Most of the DAs I talked to were all about conviction rates,” Foxx says, of his role research. “That’s what my character’s about... He wants to keep those ratings up. He looks at it like, ‘It’s the justice system and I’m the Michael Jordan of this.’” So, maybe some Sun Tzu beside the alarm clock, too. [CONTINUED ON p61] show that evening, and vaguely represent tourism for the city of Las Vegas at an after-show club party in the wee hours. Someone should give Energizer’s marketing department Foxx’s cell number. Try as we have, it’s nigh-on impossible to imagine anyone not liking this guy. Per our cover story: Foxx’s talent is undeniable (that Oscar, those Grammy nominations—they weren’t freebies), his character is almost unassailable, and he simply charms wherever he goes. DRIVEN’s art director, Kelly Kirkpatrick, got 20 questions and as many minutes with Foxx during his after-hours party. As we were pre-searching him for our “Money” issue, and as the man had Vegas on the agenda, it was only fair to ask for some friendly wagering advice. Best-odds casino game? “Baccarat.” Favourite game? “Craps is the most fun, but Blackjack is always the best when
you’re playing either by yourself, or just one or two people.” What about poker—you’ve got to know when to (Texas) Hold ’em. “Are you kidding me?!” Well, no, we weren’t. And here it is, the grand finale, the rock-star moment among many incredibly subtle and self-deprecatingly humorous rock-star moments (yeah, yeah, Jamie’s R&B, I know, gimme a break): It’s two in the morning, Foxx is minutes away from hopping on an Ohio-bound bus—clearly he’s in a rush, ’cause, Dayton? You would be, too—and, naturally, the guy’s wearing sunglasses indoors. Off come the shades, and the eyes go all squinty: “Look at this face, look at this face. I can’t play poker—I’d give it all away!” Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Jamie Foxx. Business as usual: All bets are on.
Hyundai.qxd
5/15/09
7:40 AM
Page 2
A wee dramatic Scotland’s venerable Macallan Estate provides multiple opportunities to study single-malt perfection By Mark Hacking
T
here are some experiences that money simply can’t buy, no matter how disposable one’s income. Non-monetary limitations are all around us—the laws of physics, for example, or those governing time travel. In the case of the achingly exclusive en primeur program from noted scotch maker Macallan, the limits are much more down to earth: There’s just not enough land for the barley required to make the coveted liquid. The distiller produces more than 9,000 casks of premium single malt per year, made possible through the purchase of barley from neighbouring farms. The sole exception is the en primeur, for which all barley comes from the Macal-
36 DRIVEN October 2009 * drivenmag.com
lan Estate itself, exactly 90 acres in total. As the math is not apparent, that’s enough for only 25 casks per year. As such, even the most well-heeled of whisky lovers simply cannot gain access. Invitations, explains Public Relations Manager Sheila Kennedy, are extended to people the distiller has identified as “great appreciators of all that The Macallan stands for.” You have been warned. Although DRIVEN’s editorial staff falls somewhat short of expenditures in the category of hundreds of thousands of dollars for single-malt scotches, we were nonetheless invited to join a late-summer Macallan en primeur tasting session.
Travel *
This royal treatment was extended during a tour of Speyside, the area of Scotland that’s home to the world’s premier single-malt producers. The drive north from Aberdeen airport took us through one of the most pastoral settings known to man, and set the stage impeccably. Of course, money could buy a chauffeured ride in a Bentley Continental Flying Spur Speed—but that didn’t cheapen it in the least. The rolling hills, the reclining leather seats, the aroma of freshly-harvested crops: This was the way God’s country was meant to be experienced. Upon arrival, our group was sequestered in a cottage on the Macallan estate—again, don’t bother with your cheque book—just steps from the distillery, the river Spey and the barley fields that engender
the en primeur. In the sitting room, we enjoyed our first tastes of the Macallan wares. Why wait? The sampling continued at a formal dinner held at Easter Elchies House, an estate-based Jacobean manor built in the 16th century. The “Six Pillars” dinner matched each course to a different single malt. (It bears noting that no matter how much one considers oneself a whisky expert, one’s palate will likely be found unrefined in a Six Pillars summit.) No matter: Our party was joined by whisky maker Bob Dalgarno, who explained each aroma, taste and after-taste in bewildering-yet-inclusive detail. For the record, my favourite of the six was the 15-yearold Fine Oak…but it might have been the smoked salmon talking.
The en primeur program is much like buying wine futures. Clients visit the estate, tour the distillery and select the size and type of cask to be used— Spanish or American oak, seasoned with sherry or bourbon. The whisky produced is stored for a minimum of 12 years, then bottled and celebrated one wee dram at a time. The cost of the program? As stated: That’s largely irrelevant to the conversation. The next morning was marked by a brief period of recovery and a leisurely jog around the property. The barley crops had been freshly harvested in anticipation of a new group of clients dropping by to start the en primeur process all over again. In an adjacent pasture, a fold of Highland cattle chewed its cud, surely in tacit approval. D
DRIVEN October 2009 * drivenmag.com 37
Go ahead, fashion gambler: Press your luck with non-traditional evening attire. Just don’t lose your shirt (the world’s most expensive dress shirt, p40)
♣ ♦ ♥ ♠
♣ ♦ ♥ ♠ Photography David Wile Fashion Direction Luke Langsdale Art Direction Kelly Kirkpatrick
♣ ♦ ♥ ♠ Hair & Makeup Natalia Zurawska using TRESemmé (for Judy Inc., ) Fashion Assistants Jesse Brook Jessica Maiorano Models from left Gary, Vlada and Stephane (Elite Models Inc.) Regina and Samy (B & M Models)
♣ ♦ ♥ ♠ Tables Courtesy of Big Slick Party Where to buy? See “Buyer’s Market” on page 60
♣ ♦ ♥ ♠
38
39
40
♣ ♦ ♥ ♠ Previous spread From left to right On him Suit Hugo Boss Shirt Eton Bow tie Eton Pocket square Eton On her Dress Nada On him Suit Lanvin Shirt Eton Bow tie Ralph Lauren Purple Label Pocket square Eton On her Dress Hugo Boss On him Shirt Eton Pants Hugo Boss
♣ ♦ ♥ ♠ Opposite page On her Dress Greta Constantine On him Suit Louis Vuitton Bow tie Stylist’s own Pocket square Eton On the table The most expensive shirt in the world Eton (Egyptian cotton yarn, with diamond studs and cufflinks, valued at approx. $40,000)
♣ ♦ ♥ ♠ This page Shirt Eton Vest Eton Pants Hugo Boss
♣ ♦ ♥ ♠
41
Fiction *
Tales from the trysts By Lynn Crosbie
Illustration by Lisa Vanin
I You can keep them if you find them I had heard of him and you would know his name, if I told you. He was in an ’80s hair-band that played what they called “Sexy Metal.” Friends of mine knew him, and long ago I would be introduced to him, repeatedly, by one awe-struck person or another. Ivan Van Ivan, yeah, nice to meet you, he would always say, as his eyes roamed the room. A few years ago, I ran into him at a club, and he had changed, of course. His hair was short and thin; he dressed casually except for a bright pink scarf, and he wasn’t wearing makeup. I liked the last part. I hate men in mascara, I told him, as he started winding his scarf between us, eventually using it to pull me into a loud kiss. He came home with me, and we sat on the couch while he told stories about his band’s heyday. I met them all, man. Bachman! Fucking, Peart and Geddy. Geddy’s cool. Offenbach, and— I had to interrupt and tell him I had never listened to his band, and no, I did not know the tune “Pussy 666,” or “Jizz Soul,” or “My Soul Was Made for Tits and Metal.”
42 DRIVEN October 2009 * drivenmag.com
He was mortified. He works at a dry cleaner’s, and is convinced everyone recognizes him as they hand over their balled-up, hircine party dresses. But I heard of you, I kept telling him. All the time, even now, I hear about you, I continued, until he said, Let’s go upstairs and finesse that bra off. We slept together and it was not memorable, except for some metal grunting, and one “Hello Toronto!” screamed in the middle. In the morning I felt contempt, as always, for the snoring, long pig in my bed. You have to go, you have to go, I kept urging, as he hopped around, finding his clothes. I, ah, lost my tighty whities, he said at the door. You can keep them if you find them, he leered. I found them. Stuck under my bed-post, a loose grey puddle. I ran downstairs and got plastic bags, gloves and a pair of pliers. Lifted them with the pliers only to see two skid marks, one tawny-coloured, the other, more of a burnt sienna, probably from two days earlier. I manipulated them into a bag, then another and another, then buried it all in my trash and felt sick
until garbage day, knowing they were still out there, in the trash can. Ivan called me and called me until I relented, and had him come over. He gave me a leather band that closed with a snap, and called me his Tight Jam. And this is the sick part. I went away for the holidays, shortly after, and told my family that I was seeing someone I liked. I wore the bracelet to dinner, and I thought about him. I had not been fair, or kind, I thought. I would change. When I got home, I called him, and said, Ivan, I am feeling it. He had told me, that first night, that he always knows things will work out if he’s feelin’ it with a chick, you know? He didn’t call back. I called and called. He finally answered and told me, after I asked him what was happening, that I was coming on way too strong, that he just wasn’t ready for anything heavy. I think of my need, triple-bagged and puked over. And I do, I understand. I can find them, and it makes me sick to do it, but I can’t keep them.
II I should have killed myself when he put it in me I had wanted to like Brian so badly, I started buying bourbon by the gallon. The last time he came over, I played him my iPod, and he said, I keep waiting for the song that will make me love you. And when that one particular CCR song comes on, he shouts, I love you, I love you! This was our third date. I was being solicitous, because I had been unkind. And because he brought me a present: a ceramic angel in a white billowing dress, leaning forward for a kiss. She looks impudent and aggressive; her hands are loose white mittens. It was a beautiful, cool summer night. He says: I want to ask people sometimes, Have you ever seen the rain? By this he means turbulent
depression, or shocking misery. In the calm before the storm, we held hands and drank the bourbon. Later, I lay on the grass, watching him. He took off all of his clothes, and stood in the moonlight, lightly raking his pear-shaped belly with his long nails, revealing his small, perfect breasts. He was the only girlfriend I had ever had, and he wasn’t even pretty. You looking at my tits? he asked. I shuddered. I still do. I had showed my class Carrie that day, and laughed a lot at Carrie’s mother’s outrageous regret about carnal sin. I should have killed myself when he put it in me! she remarks of her husband. But I was weak! she moans.
I am not. I will frog-walk this man, as I so often do, to the door, and hate him for his feminine softness and common vulgarity. His bird-calls about losing me, losing himself. With the right woman, he once said, I could go places. Go by yourself! I wanted to say, but I, instead, started thinking about the message I would send him the next day, about how good he was, and how much better he deserved. How, I would write, he deserved an angel, closing her white eyes and pressing her body forward, because she is filled with grace and believes in him. Because she has seen everything, and, simply, wishes to come in from the rain and shake it off.
III The way swans sleep Jelly’s stories were always the same. He was dating or living with a “world-class” beauty, or acrobat or scientist. And had to leave her because of her wanton bigotry, meanness or aggression. I perceive you to have a beautiful soul! he said, in a letter written a week after we met, on Facebook. Like Brian, he had been a friend of my ex-husband. You showed such dignity at his funeral! he wrote, and begged me to let him call me. He spoke in a little voice, with a dramatic Yiddish accent. When we had a small quarrel, he told me he went and held AIDS babies to feel better. I decided then that he was a kind man, and, in spite of my reservations, I agreed to meet him. Oh, I am so excited, he said. Ooooo. He is 55 and lives in a basement apartment with a pot dealer, and is waiting for the next big idea. There is crazy money in reality TV, he told me. He is a crack addict who writes ten-page letters at four in the morning, claiming excitability. He is in recovery, he says. Jelly drives a beat-up beige Ford Escort and used to be a performance artist called Misterio! I got the name from a very nice, and surprisingly affordable, cabernet, he told me. When I asked about his shows, he said they were hard to describe: Oh, I would pee on flags and stuff, he offered. Once, I was a dinosaur coming out of a steel egg. Jelly is planning to go back to school and study, Not what I should know but what I should feel, he said. For example, I want SOC101 to teach me how communist people act in bread lines. With sadness? Or élan! He confided that his 30-year-old daughter had repeated molar pregnancies. They look like bunches of grapes or falling snow, in the ultrasound, he told me. She named the last one, which looked like a
snowman, after him, before evacuating it. It was a world-class child, he texted. COL, he added, his acronym for “Crying Out Loud.” Jelly called and wrote me all day long for the week leading up to our date. The night before, he sent me a disquieting rhyming poem he had written about wanting to hold me. It’s called, “I Want to Hold You,” he told me, when we spoke the next day. I came close to backing out. I phoned him, but he had to take another call. He answered it, then came back on the line. One of the AIDS babies just died, he squeaked. She was my special friend and she died alone. I have to go. He called 10 minutes later, and said, Hey! How are you!? What about the little girl? I asked. Yes, O my God! Life is so crushing, but you have to go on! he said. I cannot wait to meet you and simply look in your topaz-coloured eyes, he said. My eyes are blue, but when I had corrected him in the past—the time, for example, he had called them blazing, hot coals—he snapped, For a freespirited receptionist at a thriving new hair salon, you are so literal! I was unable to correct him on the matter of my job, either, and from then on, I remained silent when he referred to Your gallant prosthesis! or Your deathdefying rappelling skills! We finally set a night. That day, I had my hair and nails done, and a dress dry cleaned. He had told me he was not tall. Not that he was a midget. He reached my knee, which he embraced, and fleetingly, humped. He leaped in the air to take my hand. We went into the living room and he clambered onto a stool. Class, he said. You’ve got it, all right. He was staring at a painting an insane woman gave me of a white cat with large red lips playing a harmonica. He took me to a restaurant on the Lakeshore
called Jaks. No C, no apostrophe. The waitress brought over a couple of phone books for him to sit on and I had a grilled cheese sandwich and fries that smelled like the fish he was shoveling into his Tic Tac–sized mouth. We drove to the lake, and he did not feel like getting out of the car. I’m wearing a light jacket! he fretted. But he followed me anyway as I walked over to look at the swans, sleeping, their long necks curved onto their backs. They made me feel tired. As he leaned against me, I thought of how much I have had to change to let anyone touch me. Jelly drove me home and we sat on the couch, drinking tap water. I had been clean for 37 days. I have not dared to dream in so long, he said. I think I am in love, he sighed. And said, I keep thinking, I don’t want to blow this. Me too, I said, my eyes passing over the crotch of his tiny, pleated slacks. I thought about when I was a drunk and that I may have slept with him then. He missed the joke, kissed me, and left. When he kissed me, he clamped his lips together tightly, while folding and unfolding his legs and making them chirp like an insect. After a week, I called him. You’re so angry, he said. I am not about anger and shopping at fine boutiques! I smoke cigarettes and dream of art and performing with power and fire! I apologized, I was so shocked. My father is dying! he yelled. And my enormous diabetic brother probably has to have his leg cut off! Oh, that is them, they’re calling me! He hung up. I have not heard from him since. I thought of him once, shivering by the lake, and looking, mournfully, at the dark, churning water. That is one world-class swan, he must have thought. But cruel. Cruel!*
DRIVEN October 2009 * drivenmag.com 43
Charge of the Electric Brigade The green flag has dropped on the race to create a global EV infrastructure, and the winners could be crowned as early as next year. Gentlemen, flick your switches
B
By John Lorinc
y all accounts, 2010 will mark the commercial coming out for the electric vehicle (EV), whose promise has hovered elusively for so many years. With major manufacturers like General Motors, Nissan and Toyota launching EVs or plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), the future of the auto industry appears to have at least booked a reservation, if not yet quite arrived.
44 DRIVEN October 2009 * drivenmag.com
In the past year, with the historic Copenhagen climate change conference looming, several countries, including Japan, China, France, Germany and the US, announced lucrative EV rebates, to offset the vehicle’s still-sobering price. Here in Canada, Ontario’s Liberal government tabled its own incentive gambit this summer: a consumer subsidy of $4,000 to $10,000. Amidst all the hype and anticipation, another story is unfolding, equally intriguing although much less
visible. It involves the dicey business of building an EV-charging infrastructure to mirror (or eventually supplant) the ubiquitous network of gas stations that define the landscape of fossil-fuel locomotion. Indeed, the development of this charging infrastructure could very well be the make-or-break detail in the EV’s success or failure. It offers up a bracing reminder of the chicken-and-egg riddle that has placed a death grip on the hydrogen fuel cell vehicle.
In a nutshell, the dilemma went something like this: Why should the consumer purchase a hydrogen vehicle if there are no places to either replenish the fuel cell or fill up the hydrogen tank? Meanwhile, if you’re an investor thinking about the gas station of the future, why would you buy into hydrogen if no one is buying the cars? Apart from a handful of fringe applications— forklifts, for example—this game of chicken will very likely prove lethal to the hydrogen initiative. The commercial EV offering circa 2010 in some ways harkens back to the Betamax/VHS battle of the videotape era. Many mainstream manufacturers are hedging their bets by building PHEVs (e.g., the notyet-to-market EV version of the Toyota Prius), which switch over to gas when their short-haul batteries die, while the purists, like Tesla Motors, are looking to develop batteries capable of propelling an EV over more respectable distances. With or without the phantom menace of range anxiety, the reality is that the battery will still need to be juiced, and that act of energy sustenance is not always going to happen in the serenity of a homeowner’s garage. Richard Lowenthal is the founder and chief executive of Coulomb Technologies, an upstart Silicon Valley firm that makes EV “charge points.” He casts the ‘which comes first?’ problem in even more nuanced terms. Pointing to the fact that in San Francisco, just over half of all private car owners use street parking, he shrugs and says, “They can’t buy an electric vehicle because they don’t have a place to plug in.” And therein lies the stuff of entrepreneurial opportunity. What’s happened over the past two years or so is that a handful of tech firms have developed vehiclecharging technology, and these firms are poised to leap into what could quickly become a huge market: the refuelling stations of the future. France recently pledged to deploy 5 million charge stations within three years. Portugal is also building a national network. Environmentally-conscious cities like Paris, Copenhagen and Amsterdam have already set up stations. And in what could be a big bang for this industry, London mayor Boris Johnson promised to install 25,000 points in his city, in time for the 2012 summer Olympics. With each charge point selling for about US $2,000, the market could eventually be worth tens of billions of dollars. In the US, the Obama Administration, as part of its clean energy/stimulus strategy, earmarked $400 million (US) for EV infrastructure. Much of that funding is going to municipalities, particularly in the Bay Area, Chicago and on the east coast. Canada, by contrast, has been exceedingly slow to come to this party. Despite helping to bail out the carmakers, the feds are silent on the topic. Ontario is talking about some kind of pilot with Better Place, another California EVcharge company—but there’s nothing concrete as yet. Meanwhile, the City of Vancouver this spring passed a development rule requiring condo builders to install charging stations in 20 per cent of their parking garages. (In fact, development giant Concord Pacific had begun installing the charge stations even
“
Cities promoting EV infrastructure without providing the green power required to operate charge stations are effectively engaged in greenwashing
„
before the city issued the directive.) Councillor Andrea Reimer, an environmentalist who is council’s liaison to Vancouver’s Greenest City Action Plan, says that Vancouver is one of about 400 urban centres worldwide with the heft to create consumer markets for emerging environmental technologies such as electric vehicles. “We’re working on the supply side to make sure that the demand and the supply can meet.” Most of the EV-infrastructure firms manufacture charge stations, which either resemble high-tech gas pumps or cord-equipped fuse boxes affixed to walls or telephone poles. Everything is digital, with swipe or credit cards activating accounts. Charge times vary, but most require several hours and thus depend on the driver leaving the vehicle in one place, for an extended period of time. (For many owners, of course, recharging will occur at night, in the garage, which presents its own problems: A surfeit of thirsty EVs in one neighbourhood could disrupt local energy flow. Several smart-grid firms, such as Gridpoint, a four-year-old Arlington, Virginia, energy management company, are already
developing technologies to modulate the power flow associated with increased EV ownership. The location of charge stations is also paramount. Colin Read, vice-president of corporate development for ECOtality, a Scottsdale, Arizona-based EV-charge company, says his firm is targeting venues such as malls, theatres, condo towers, garages, the parking lots of large employers and key locations along intercity highways. ECOtality leads the market, having secured $108 million (US) in federal and state grants to build, over the next year, a 12,750-strong charge-station network in several metropolitan areas, including Portland, Nashville, San Diego and Phoenix. In yet another bid to break the chicken-egg knot, ECOtality is partnering with Nissan, which will be looking to sell 5,000 units of its LEAF hatchback—a 100 per cent EV, debuting in 2010—in those same markets, as part of a large pilot. “This is the largest deployment of charges and EV ever,” says Read. “The success of the program will help dictate the future of EV transportation in the US.” Not if Better Place can help it. Founded by former software executive Shai Agassi, the Palo Alto–based company is gambling on a more daring approach, which involves a combination of charge points and battery-swapping stations—facilities resembling drivethrough car washes, where EV owners can have their batteries automatically changed in a matter of minutes. The Better Place strategy is to short-circuit the problem of the EV’s formidable upfront purchase price (and eventual battery replacement cost), by allowing consumers to essentially rent power packs with subscription plans not unlike those offered by mobile-phone providers. As vice-president of communications Joe Paluska explains, “Our fundamental position is that electric cars need to be more convenient and affordable than gasoline-powered vehicles.” At the Frankfurt Motor Show this fall, Nissan/Renault unveiled the Fluence ZE concept: an EV engineered to use Better Place’s battery swapping stations, which are now being tested in Israel and Japan. Per the car wash comparison above: After the driver pulls in to the swapping facility, the EV is towed over a mechanical “dinner plate” beneath the ramp. A bevy of electronics click in, and the system identifies the appropriate battery. The swap mechanism then extracts the old battery and loads in a new one. Better Place’s batteries, Paluska adds, are recharged using green electricity. The company is negotiating clean-power purchase contracts with the utilities operating in the markets upon which it has focused (Israel’s power company has solar energy suppliers). “Our business model is trying to match the supply of renewable energy with the demand for [low-emission] vehicles,” he says. It’s not a trivial detail: EVs only advance the cause of greenhouse gas reduction if the power upon which their batteries rely hasn’t come from fossil fuels. Charging an EV in Vancouver, where virtually all the power comes from BC’s hydro dams, is a low-emission exercise. But in places like Alberta or the US midwest, where most of the power [CONTINUED ON p61]
DRIVEN October 2009 * drivenmag.com 45
Automotive *
> > 2010 Porsche Panamera four-door phenom By Mark Hacking Elmau, Germany—What we’re talking about here is a four-door Porsche. A four-door Porsche with the engine placed in the front of the car. A four-door Porsche that pays nearly as much attention to interior amenities as it does to mechanical performance. This from the manufacturer that built its reputation solely on two-door rear-engine sports cars with distinctly Spartan passenger cabins. What, exactly, is this automaker’s brain trust thinking, in deciding to develop the 2010 Porsche Panamera? It’s simple, really: market share—and the very real chance that they can make lightning strike twice in the span of less than a decade. You see, although sports cars such as the 356, 550 Spyder and 911 built the Porsche brand, the Cayenne SUV put new, much-needed money in the bank account.
46 DRIVEN October 2009 * drivenmag.com
When the Cayenne was introduced in 2002, the purists scoffed (in fact, many still do). Still, the logic behind the decision was beyond dispute: When the average well-heeled 911 owner decided he needed another vehicle, something with more than two doors and minimal luggage space, another brand—say, BMW or Mercedes—was the only option. The Cayenne was a shrewd tactical choice designed to keep Porsche customers in the Porsche dealerships. It worked like a charm. These days, with SUVs about as popular as STDs— driving the former in late summer, I got the finger from three different commuters in the space of two hours, a new personal best—Porsche has decided to introduce the aforementioned Panamera. As with the Cayenne, the reasoning here is simple, yet brilliant: Less stigma than an SUV, more doors than a 911. For all the Cayenne’s negative characteristics or associations, one thing remains indisputable: It’s a well-engineered vehicle. While people may complain about its environmental footprint or the fact that it’s the SUV of choice for annoying soccer moms, it’s still a Porsche. The Panamera, too, is definitely a Porsche.
Here’s why. For the global launch event, held in Bavaria, three versions of the new sedan were on hand: the rear-wheel drive Panamera S, the allwheel drive Panamera 4S and the rear-wheel-drive Panamera Turbo, all fitted with the company’s PDK dual-clutch automatic transmission (which was first introduced last year, in the 911). The former two cars are powered by a 4.8-litre V8 that generates 400 horsepower and 369 lb-ft of torque; the latter employs the same engine, boosted by a pair of turbochargers to create 500 hp and 516 lb-ft of torque. In spending a fair amount of time behind the wheel of each version, one key facet of the Panamera soon became apparent: When it comes to driving dynamics, this vehicle represents a new standard for executive-class sedans. Although the Panamera doesn’t drive anything like a 911, it boasts a unique personality that is impressive in its own right. This Porsche has the lowest centre of gravity of any car in its class; it also boasts a wheelbase of significant length. Combined with an adaptive rear spoiler that deploys and adjusts its angle of attack depending on the speed being travelled, these
Exterior photography by Frank Orel
characteristics give the car an extremely stable presence at high speed. At one point, we were driving on the autobahn at over 200 km/h, on newly damp pavement—the slickest possible conditions. In these circumstances, even some very well-engineered cars will twitch and slide when rounding a bend. The Panamera stuck to the tarmac as if the tires were slathered in Krazy Glue. The power delivery characteristics of both engines also proved impressive. The S and 4S accelerated smartly, both accomplishing the sprint to 100 km/h in well under six seconds. Of course, the Turbo set the pace among this group—motoring from a standing start to that century mark in 4.2 seconds (and in just 4 seconds flat with the optional Sports Chrono Package). The PDK transmission is, of course, wildly impressive. Also superior is the start/stop system; the engine shuts down automatically at speeds under 15 km/h and starts up again as soon as the brake pedal is released. While acceleration and high-speed composure are definite strengths of the car, it’s not necessarily the same case with high-speed transitions—reason being, the Panamera is a large and heavy sedan. Although the Porsche has been infused with lightweight materials, it’s also capable of very high speeds—a terminal velocity of 303 km/h, in the case of the Turbo; the engineers, by necessity, gave the car incredible strength to match. To sum up, while the Panamera is hardly a limousine in the classic American sense (it doesn’t float, wallow or meander) it’s also not the best choice for a hairpin-strewn Alpine pass. Apart from the Panamera’s power and handling characteristics, the most impressive aspect of this distinctive sedan is its lavish interior. The seats are an absolute wonder, full of support and comfort. The centre console is slick, reminiscent of a modern cell-phone keypad, with its numerous switches logically aligned so that the most important controls are within easy reach of the driver. The central touchscreen allows for clear and intuitive operation of the audio and navigation systems. And the extra-long wheelbase translates into an impressive degree of legroom for back-seat drivers. Regardless of all the appealing qualities of the Panamera, many purists likely still will not be thrilled with the idea of a Porsche four-door. Still others have cast derision on the sedan’s exterior design, which is definitely unique and unquestionably not to everyone’s taste. But these same people were no doubt vocal in their dislike of the Porsche Cayenne, which has been an unqualified success for the manufacturer. Given the superior engineering and luxury on display in the Panamera, there’s every reason to expect that a similar level of success is right around the corner.*
The Panamera stuck to the tarmac as if the tires were slathered with Krazy Glue
DRIVEN October 2009 * drivenmag.com 47
Automotive *
> > 2010 Cadillac CTS sport wagon Speedy hauler By Mark Hacking Monticello, New York—The following has nothing to do with whether or not the 2010 Cadillac CTS Sport Wagon is a worthy car from an engineering standpoint. In fact, this statement is as diametrically opposed to objective assessment as you can get: Just look at the thing! Take a glance at this car and tell me that Cadillac is not at the very forefront of automotive design. The CTS Sport Wagon is compelling, proportionally correct and strikingly original. What makes this family hauler even more impressive is the fact that automotive design, circa 2009, is in very rough shape. In one corner, we have manufacturers that really should be cutting generous cheques to their rivals in exchange for the outright theft taking place on drawing boards around the world. In the other, we have the automotive companies responsible for vehicles that are so crushingly ugly, no further explanation is required. (By the way, we all know which carmakers are committing these crimes against design; on everyone’s behalf—end it now.) Then, we have the dynamic 2010 Cadillac CTS Sport Wagon. Go ahead, take another look—I’ll still be here when you return.
48 DRIVEN October 2009 * drivenmag.com
Technically, this car is a station wagon, but it’s as far removed from the Griswold family’s Wagon Queen Family Truckster as you can get. No missing hubcaps, faux wood paneling or quad headlights— just aggressive, purposeful lines that push this Cadillac to the very top of the desirability list. But the brilliance of the car extends far beneath the surface. Although the CTS Sport Wagon is dimensionally very close to the CTS sedan—overall length and wheelbase are the same—it has nearly
twice the cargo space. In fact, the wagon is identical to the sedan from the back of the rear doors forward, making this is a clear-cut case of beautiful form meets beautiful function. In terms of the engineering, this Cadillac is no slouch. The wagon is powered by either a 3.0-litre V6 (270 hp; 223 lb-ft of torque) or a 3.6-litre V6 (304 hp; 273 lb-ft of torque), both engines linked to a 6-speed
automatic. The vehicle comes with rear-wheel or all-wheel drive, and three different suspension/tire/ differential packages, ranging from the more familyoriented to the downright passive-aggressive. In testing, the CTS with the larger engine and rear-wheel drive proved a spry performer, if not ready for the local drag strip. The transmission is smooth and offers a good balance between outright acceleration and optimal fuel efficiency. The steering is light and the suspension is a bit zaftig, but the Cadillac is, after all, a station wagon. Still, this does not dissuade me from suggesting that a high-performance CTS-V Sport Wagon version would be brilliant idea. Inside, the car features the kind of understated luxury for which recent Cadillacs have become known. Gone are the Barcalounger-style seats and chromed switch gear that epitomized the brand in its previous guise; surfaces are now adorned with a brushed-satin metallic finish, smooth Frenchstitched leather or rich Sapele Pommele wood. To sum up, it’s comfortable without being overly cushy. Standard features include LED lighting and a Bose surround-sound audio system, while the options list boasts a navigation screen, 40GB hard drive and Bluetooth connectivity. One final point worth mentioning: The CTS Sport Wagon is the first Cadillac wagon to be sold in North America...apart from your friendly neighbourhood hearse. This is fitting because the CTS is definitely best-suited to people with a strong pulse.*
Automotive *
> > 2009 ford fiesta Fiesta for the senses By Michael Bettencourt One glance at the 2009 European-market Ford Fiesta tells you two things: First, that the company put a lot of big-dollar engineering into this vehicle and, second, that the engineers in question made fun a top priority—a lot of fun. The Fiesta is not set to arrive in North America before next summer, but Ford decided to tease the Canadian press with local media tours of currently available Euro versions. These tours were, indeed, every bit as fun as anticipated. A concept version of the Fiesta debuted as the Ford Verve way back in 2007, but the vehicle proper is news to most people. My little five-door tester’s slick style and brazen lime-green paint pulled eyeballs around Toronto for three full days, garnering more positive comments per block than anything since the release of the Smart car. Speaking of smart: the Fiesta really is a practical vehicle versus, say, an oversized toy on wheels. Technically, the entry-level model competes with
50 DRIVEN October 2009 * drivenmag.com
the smallest new cars on the market—but the Ford offers up the features and refinement of much larger, admittedly family-targeted, vehicles. I packed up mine with four people and a couple days’ worth of cottage gear and food, all of which the rear cargo area swallowed with room to spare (although this likelier would have proved more difficult in the Fiesta sedan). The rear bench is actually useable for child seats and sub-six foot adults, even though the vehicle is small enough to park sideways at the base of a single-car driveway. The Fiesta’s 1.6-litre 4-cylinder generates a healthy 120 hp, making the Ford a fairly lively entry in the subcompact class. The manufacturer estimates that the run from 0-100 km/h will take 9.9 seconds. That’s not overly quick by anyone’s standards, but buyers will likely be more interested in the engine’s thrifty fuel consumption: an estimated 7.9 L/100 km city, 4.7 highway—this, assuming that the Euro engine is the one that makes it to North America, which looks likely but remained unconfirmed at press time. More impressive still is the list of features—the kind that rarely show up in cars this small. Standard offerings include a keyless go system that unlocks the doors or trunk with the fob still in your pocket, push-button start that helps leave said key in said pocket, parking sensors that beep in close quarters,
Bluetooth phone function with voice control, and a USB connector for digi-music sticks. (Our fully-loaded media tester was additionally equipped with automatic climate control, satellite radio, iPod input and audio system controls on the steering wheel; again, it remains to be seen if these will be included as North-American standards.) All the more pleasantly surprising, the Fiesta’s luxe-car features are matched with a luxe-car driving feel—this was no ancient chassis overtop of which shiny baubles were strewn for the purpose of deceptive surface appeal. The steering is direct and lively, no doubt helped by the shockingly good 195/45VR16 Pirelli PZero Nero tires that come with this model’s sport suspension, and a front stabilizer bar that nicely limits body roll. Frankly, this is much more tire than the car needs; then again, it’s this type of over-engineering throughout that makes the Fiesta so remarkable. Now that Ford has left the media thoroughly teased for North America’s upcoming 2010 Fiesta, it will be fascinating to see if our Mexico-built versions offer the same features, quality and driving appeal as did the 2009 European model. Maybe it’s the name of the vehicle itself that makes us giddy, happy and celebratory; regardless, after this test drive, we’re going to take its success for granted.*
Fall
Forward
Photography Richard Sibbald Fashion Direction Luke Langsdale Art Direction Kelly Kirkpatrick
••• Hair & Makeup Anita Cane (artistgrouplimited.com) Models Chanelle and Leigh (Elite Models Inc.) Maxim and Scott (Sutherland Models) Fashion Assistant Jesse Brook Where to buy? See “Buyer’s Market” on page 60
52
53
Page 52 and this page • On her Jacket Loro Piana Dress Dries Van Noten Boots Lacoste
54
Previous page On him Jacket Hugo Boss Shirt Polo Ralph Lauren Tie Eton Scarf Eton Pocket square Eton Pants Salvage Dungarees by Klaxon Howl Shoes Chuck Taylor Converse
•
On her Floral silk dress BP56 FRP11 Sweater Hugo Boss Shoes Limited edition sequined Converse
On him Jacket Burberry Prorsum Sweater Michael Kors Shirt Eton Pants Polo Ralph Lauren Shoes Lacoste
On him Suit Brunello Cucinelli Shirt Eton Scarf Loro Piana Pocket square Brunello Cucinelli Socks Stylist’s own Boots Prada On her Floral silk dress BP56 FRP11 Shoes Hermès 55
This page •
Opposite page •
Coat Hugo Boss Jacket Polo Ralph Lauren Shirt Polo Ralph Lauren Tie Stylist’s Jeans Levi’s (501 Limited Edition)
On him Shirt Loro Piana Scarf Eton Pants John Varvatos Boots Sebago On her Cardigan Polo Ralph Lauren Dress Jean Paul Gaultier Shoes Limited edition sequined Converse
56
29
57
58
From left to right On her Dress Jean Paul Gaultier Sweater Brandon R. Dwyer Faux Fur Lundström On him Jacket Hugo Boss Sweater Hugo Boss Shirt Eton Pants Z Zegna On table Blanket Hudson’s Bay Company On her Dress Esprit Hooded cashmere scarf Hermès Boots Converse On him Shirt Polo Ralph Lauren Sweater Black and Brown Jacket Etro Jeans Re-issue Levi’s Big E 501 Pocket square Eton 59
Buyer’s Market
Adventure Capitalist (Page 22) Evergreen Prospector canoe available at MEC (mec.ca); Shirt by Eton, for stockists see etonshirts.com; Microlite down jacket by Rab, for stockists see Rab.co.uk; Hunting vest and utility pants by Post Overalls, for stockists see postoveralls.com; Dockside deck shoes by Sebago, for stockists see sebago.com; Foothills parka by Filson, for stockists see filson.com; Cruiser combo two pack by Duluth Pack, available from duluthpack.com; Toque by Parkhurst, available at MEC (mec.ca); 877 boots by Red Wing, for stockists see rwleatherboots.com; Eos Rebel XSi camera by Canon, for stockists see canon.ca; Blackberry Curve 8900 by RIM, for stockists see blackberry.com. Casino (Pages 38-41) Games tables and equipment courtesy of Big Slick Party Rental (bigslickparty.com). Hair and makeup styled using TRESemmé, Benefit Cosmetics, M.A.C. and Cover FX. Page 38: On her: Dress by Nada available from nadadesign.com. On him: Suit by Hugo Boss, for stockists see hugoboss.com; Shirt, bow tie and pocket square by Eton, for stockists see etonshirts.com. Page 39, left to right: On him: Shirt and pocket square by Eton available, for stockists see etonshirts.com; Suit by Lanvin available at Holt Renfrew (holtrenfrew.com); Bow tie by Ralph Lauren Purple Label available at Holt Renfrew (holtrenfrew.com). Oh her: Dress by Hugo Boss, for stockists see hugoboss.com. On him: Shirt by Eton, for stockists see etonshirts.com; Pants by Hugo Boss, for stockists see hugoboss.com.
60 DRIVEN October 2009 * drivenmag.com
Page 40: On her: Dress by Greta Constantine available at Holt Renfrew (holtrenfrew.com). On him: Suit by Louis Vuitton available at Louis Vuitton Toronto (416.968.3993); Bow tie, stylist’s own; Pocket square by Eton, for stockists see etonshirts.com. On the table: Very limited-edition diamond shirt by Eton, for more information see etonshirts.com. Page 41: Shirt and vest by Eton, for stockists see etonshirts.com; Pants by Hugo Boss, for stockists see hugoboss.com. Fall Forward (Pages 52-59) Craft services by Yum Scrum Mum (416.888.3427). Pages 52-53 (also this page, top left) from left: On her: Jacket by Loro Piana available at Holt Renfrew (holtrenfrew.com); Rain boots by Lacoste, for stockists see lacoste.com; Dress by Dries Van Noten available at Holt Renfrew (holtrenfrew.com). On him: Shirt by Polo Ralph Lauren available at Holt Renfrew (holtrenfrew. com); Jacket by Hugo Boss, for stockists see hugoboss.com; Salvage Dungarees by Klaxon Howl available at Klaxon Howl (647.436.6628); Chuck Taylor shoes by Converse, for stockists see converse.com; Tie, scarf and pocket square all by Eton, for stockists see etonshirts.com. On her: Floral silk dress by BP56 FRP11 available at Holt Renfrew (holtrenfrew.com); Sweater by Hugo Boss, for stockists see hugoboss.com; Limited-edition sequined shoes by Converse, for availability see converse.com. On him: Shirt by Eton, for stockists see etonshirts.com; Jacket by Burberry Prorsum available at Holt Renfrew (holtrenfrew.com); Sweater by Michael Kors available at Harry Rosen (harryrosen.com);
Pants by Polo Ralph Lauren available at Holt Renfrew (holtrenfrew.com); Shoes by Lacoste, for stockists see lacoste.com. Page 54: Oh her: Dress by Dries Van Noten available at Holt Renfrew (holtrenfrew.com); Jacket by Loro Piana available at Holt Renfrew (holtrenfrew.com). On him: Jacket by Hugo Boss, for stockists see hugoboss.com; Shirt by Polo Ralph Lauren available at Holt Renfrew (holtrenfrew.com); Tie, scarf and pocket square all by Eton, for stockists see etonshirts.com. Page 55: On him: Shirt by Eton, for stockists see etonshirts.com; Suit and pocket square by Brunello Cucinelli available at Holt Renfrew (holtrenfrew.com); Socks, stylist’s own; Boots by Prada available at Harry Rosen (harryrosen.com); Scarf by Loro Piana available at Holt Renfrew (holtrenfrew.com); On her: Floral silk dress by BP56 FRP11 available at Holt Renfrew (holtrenfrew.com); Shoes by Hermès available at Hermès Toronto (416.968.8626). Page 56: Shirt and jacket by Polo Ralph Lauren available at Holt Renfrew (holtrenfrew.com); Coat by Hugo Boss, for stockists see hugoboss.com; Limited-edition 501 jeans by Levi’s available at Klaxon Howl (647.436.6628); Tie is stylist’s own. Page 57: On him: Shirt by Loro Piana available at Holt Renfrew (holtrenfrew.com); Pants and suspenders by John Varvatos available at Harry Rosen (harryrosen.com); Chukka boots by Sebago, for stockists see sebago.com; Scarf by Eton, for stockists see etonshirts.com. On her: Cardigan by Polo Ralph Lauren available at Holt Renfrew (holtrenfrew.com); Dress by
Jean Paul Gaultier available at Holt Renfrew (holtrenfrew.com); Limited-edition sequined shoes by Converse, for availability see converse.com. Page 58: On her: Dress by Jean Paul Gaultier available at Holt Renfrew (holtrenfrew.com); Sweater by Brandon R. Dwyer, for stockists see brandonrdwyer.com; Faux fur by Lundström available from lundstrom.ca. On him: Shirt by Eton, for stockists see etonshirts.com; Sweater and velvet jacket by Hugo Boss, for stockists see hugoboss.com; Pants by Z Zegna available at Harry Rosen (harryrosen.com). On bench: Red and black 6-point English wool blanket by Hudson’s Bay Company available at the Bay (thebay.com). Page 59: On her: Dress by Esprit available from esprit.com; Hooded cashmere scarf by Hermès available from Hermès Toronto (416.968.8626); Boots by Converse, for stockists see converse.com (reviewed online at DRIVENmag.com/fashion/ converse). On him: Shirt by Polo Ralph Lauren available at Holt Renfrew (holtrenfrew.com); Jacket by Etro available at Harry Rosen (harryrosen.com); Sweater by Black and Brown available at the Bay (thebay.com); Re-issue Big E 501 by Levi’s available at Klaxon Howl (647.436.6628); Pocket square by Eton, for stockists see etonshirts.com. This page, top left: Shirt by Klaxon Howl available at Klaxon Howl (647.436.6628); Jacket by Hugo Boss, for stockists see hugoboss.com; Pants by Polo Ralph Lauren available at Holt Renfrew (holtrenfrew.com); Pocket square and scarf by Eton, for stockists see etonshirts.com.
Photography by Richard Sibbald; styling by Luke Langsdale
“ECONOMIC ENFORCER” BY MURRAY FOSTER, CONTINUED FROM p18 has evolved into a sophisticated investor. Meanwhile, the Staal brothers—Eric, Jordan, Marc, and Jared—invest wisely on a consistent basis. “Their dad was a sod farmer. They didn’t have a lot of money growing up. Their wants aren’t multiple residences and globe-trotting.” It’s easy to draw parallels between Stew Gavin the hockey player and Stew Gavin the investor. On the ice, he was a penalty-killing specialist, more concerned with preventing goals than scoring them, but willing to go hard at the net when the opportunity arose. As an investor, his priority is to maintain a client’s wealth, but he will consider new investments if the timing is right and the research is sound. Flashy forwards and flashy financial advisors may get all the glory, but someone has to stay at the other end, protecting the net—and the net worth. “I try to be boring,” Gavin says with a smile, and without a hint of irony. D
“AMERI/CAN CONFETTI” BY PAUL BRENT, CONTINUED FROM p31 There is reason to believe, though, that our southernmost NAFTA partner would have the most about which to grumble. As would have been the case for Canada back in 2001, putting a shrinking pile of currency chips into a common pot could only be a bad bargain for Mexico in 2009. “With countries at as different levels of economic development as the US, Mexico and Canada, I cannot even begin to image what a common currency regime would look like,” says Glen Hodgson, chief economist with Ottawa’s Conference Board of Canada. Still, Hodgson’s sure of one thing: “Mexico would be playing catch up—all the time.” Hodgson is a supporter of the current floating exchange-rate system, whereby worldwide investment flows determine the value of dollars, pounds and pesos. The value of a country’s currency, he explains, “is really a vote by the rest of the world, of whether they believe in you,” he says. “[It’s] how much confidence they have in your performance, in
your ability to adapt policy.” Clearly, the concept of the amero works against this approach. David Rosenberg is a top-ranked economist with Gluskin Sheff of Toronto, who recently returned from a number of years in New York, where he was chief North American economist for Bank of America. The reversal in fortunes between the US and Canada over the past decade has, if anything, highlighted how ill-suited are our countries for monetary marriage (let alone polygamy with Mexico). Rosenberg believes that the amero will remain a decades-away mirage for monetary watchers not only because of the US’s intimidating economic bulk, but because the economies of all of our countries are so very different. To a large degree, that’s because the clichéd image of Canadians being merely hewers of wood and drawers of water has a solid basis in fact. Natural resources such as oil, gas and minerals account for proportionally three times as much of our exports, stock indexes and economic activity, as they do for those of the US. “Canadian currency is, to a very large extent, a resource-based currency,” Rosenberg says. “It never made sense when our dollar was sinking and it doesn’t make sense with the US dollar sinking.” Which isn’t quite the same thing as saying that the idea of the amero never made sense and never will—but it’s pretty close. The dominance of politics—and politicians—in any discussion about a common North American currency was even acknowledged by dollarization’s chief cheerleader, Sherry Cooper. Two years ago, when the loonie achieved parity with the US dollar, she stated that “dollarization in the real world is political.” The US-born and raised Cooper has also seemingly found a new target for currency pessimism. “The world may realize that it is no longer reasonable for the (US) dollar to be the anchor currency.” Clearly, Cooper has financial-sector fans in China and Russia. So, if we can’t—or won’t—join ’em, it seems that we can at least look forward to being able to look down on ’em. For a while, anyway. D
“CHARGE OF THE ELECTRIC BRIGADE” BY JOHN LORINC, CONTINUED FROM p45 from coal and natural gas, EVs do nothing but shift the greenhouse gas problem from tailpipes to generating plants; local air quality may improve marginally, but the overall impact on the atmosphere is the same. Indeed, cities and regions that seek to promote EV infrastructure without being capable of providing green power to the companies operating charge stations are effectively engaged in greenwashing. At the same time, the construction of a viable EV infrastructure represents a bridge to a post- or lowgasoline future. Yes, coal-generated electricity remains problematic, but electricity may some day become
cleaner, as utilities transition to renewables—so-called “clean coal” technologies, such as carbon capture and sequestration—or a new generation of nuclear reactors. Gasoline, on the other hand, will always come from oil, and much of that oil will continue to come from places that are troublesome—both politically and environmentally. Despite all the activity, no one should assume the EV infrastructure story is anywhere close to being resolved. Firms like ECOtality, Better Place and Coulomb are racing to sign up customers as the flow of orders begins to build in earnest. Consumers, in turn, will pass judgment on the competing business models for recharging. Some countries, meanwhile, will use public funds to build their own EV infrastructure, while others opt for public-private partnerships. The players themselves recognize just how fluid the EV charge sector is—and how profoundly different from the gas-station industry, which was built around branding, price and location. As happened in the cell-phone business a generation ago, rivals like Coulomb and Better Place are talking to each other about software inter-operability. The various carmakers, in turn, are teaming up with battery manufacturers, and the result will be a streamlined menu of standardized power packs plus emerging standards for how fast they can be replenished. “The way I think of it,” says Better Place’s Paluska, “is that the great EV race is on.” The question is: Who will win, and at what cost to those who don’t? D
“THE VERDICT ON JAMIE FOXX” BY EARL DITTMAN, CONTINUED FROM p34 In the movie, Foxx’s character is guilty of not just zealotry, but unintentional cruelty—notably to the ‘hero,’ played by Gerard Butler. What Foxx understands as an actor, though, and what made him pursue this role in the first place, is that great villains are the ones who don’t realize that they’re villains. His new character “does everything by the law, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the right thing.” The film’s title, then—Law Abiding Citizen—actually applies to both of its protagonists. Something else that Foxx understands is the price of fame. Rumours have circulated non-stop since the Harrah’s incident; the latest crop involves him fathering a second child, as well as playing two Michaels—Jackson and Tyson—in different biopics. “You can’t take that stuff seriously, it would drive you crazy,” Foxx shrugs. “I’m not saying it’s right, but you have to understand why they do it—to get headlines—and you have to laugh at it. “That’s all you can do: Tell the truth and laugh at the lies.” Foxx the fox, if you will; we get the feeling that Jamie Foxx will do just that, every time. D
DRIVEN October 2009 * drivenmag.com 61
Graphique *
Funny business By Pete Von Sholly
62 DRIVEN October 2009 * drivenmag.com
INTRODUCING THE ALL-NEW 2010 FORTE KOUP. STARTING AT $18,495. Experience the kick-back performance and attitude at your nearest Kia dealership. mykiaforte.ca
2010 Forte Koup SX model shown.
KIA_M_09102_KOUP_B.indd 1
9/25/09 2:50:54 PM
APPROVALS Studio Client: KIA Project: Q3 KIA MAGAZINE Docket No.: KIA_09102 Title: MY FORTE KOUP Pubs: DRIVEN MAGAZINE
Live: 7.875" X 10.125" Trim: 9" X 10.875" Bleed: 9.25” X 11.125”
Art Director: Copywriter: Print Mgr: A. TSANG Color/B&W: 4C Fonts: Berkeley; Arial; Helvetica
Type Mgr. Proofreader Print Mgr. Art Director
AD NUMBER:
KIA_M_09102_KOUP_B Typesetting: Optic Nerve This advertisement prepared by PUBLICIS
Copywriter
BY
DATE
Date: SEP 25 2009 Designer/Studio Artist: DC PRODUCTION NOTES • IMAGES ARE LINKED TO HIGH-RES • IMAGES ARE VECTOR BASED
LAYOUT
0 REVs
0 LASER%
Creative Dir. Acct. Mgmt. Client
1