And people wonder why I want to write about Canada.

Former Journalist to Open Brothel

VICTORIA (CP) – “She's run a newsroom at a daily newspaper but now she wants to build a co-op brothel, run by and for prostitutes…. Paterson, who also wrote a regular column for the the Victoria Times-Colonist, admits many of the stories she wrote, especially ones about sex trade workers, touched her personally - a journalistic no-no, where reporters seek the heart of stories but attempt to keep the emotion from sinking into their own skin.”

Awwww. And who says the press never focuses on any heartwarming stories? This is challenging my assumptions. I always thought they lined up lawyers and journalists and surgically removed their hearts as soon as they were hired.

Okay, I am joking. At least about the reporters. ; )

Now, I could say something, and it would probably be the dirtiest thing I’ve ever said, so I’ll keep it to myself and keep my pristine image in tact. But I will say that the potential mileage from something like this is sky high.

Journalist starts brothel, fellow journalist gets a camera and catalogues the clientele. Entrapment for slow news days. Okay, seriously, no matter what anyone says attitudes won’t change overnight. I personally feel that the day we’ll have really made progress is the day we don’t see a headline like First Gay Couple Marry in Iowa. The real sign of equality will be when we consider this so normal it isn’t newsworthy. Of course, the recent sex scandal involving a US senator doesn’t help. Society still hasn’t caught up to the law in terms of how it feels about homosexuality. Proof to me we’re slow to change, and society has been frowning on prostitution since the days of Cain.

Oddly enough, I do tend to forget this and put my own mindset on things. It never even occurred to me a few days ago, when I posted the Maid Marian video, that people would think of it as anti-gay. I seriously thought, “Oh my word, look what’s on Youtube” and if I’d thought for a second my friend, who’s in the video, would have been upset by it I wouldn’t have posted it. After all, if a person who was in it doesn’t have a problem, should anyone else? (No doubt some of you are wondering who is in the video, as I never did say, and don't plan to. It really is just proof some people have too much time on their hands, that once you're in the public domain anything's possible, and what about copyright anyway? How does YouTube get away with all the tv show clippings? File that under things that make you go hmmm.)

And then part of me wonders if the reason some people got their knickers in a twist over it is because they actually are a bit homophobic. My brother-in-law is gay. In my experience, a lot of gay people have a better sense of humour about their sexuality than straight people do – they’re too busy trying to be politically correct so that it doesn’t seem like they have a problem with homosexuality.

Getting back to the topic at hand, though, I could do a whole side discussion about the fact they’re trying this in Victoria as well. I must admit to being intrigued, and wondering what would happen if a reporter tried this in such a high-profile capacity in the GVA. They’ve been having a hell of a time over their safe injection sites, something I pay attention to because my Cdn series is set in the Greater Vancouver Area.

But there’s pretty handy access from the US to Victoria, and I find myself musing the possibilities for cross border sex trips… Musings like this are how books are born.

And since we're on the subject of sex, here's a joke for you:

The only way to pull off a Sunday afternoon "quickie" with their 8-year old son in the apartment was to send him out on the balcony with a popsicle and tell him to report on all the neighborhood activities.

He began his commentary as his parents put their plan into operation:

"There's a car being towed from the parking lot," he shouted. "An ambulance just drove by!"

"Looks like the Andersons have company," he called out. "Matt's riding a new bike!"

"Looks like the Sanders are moving!"

"Jason is on his skate board...."

After a few moments he announced, "The Coopers are having sex!!"

Startled, his mother and dad shot up in bed. Dad cautiously called out, "How do you know they are having sex?"

"Jimmy Cooper is standing on his balcony with a Popsicle."