Maffin hangs up skates

Tod Maffin isn’t writing Inside the CBC anymore. It will now be a full-on propaganda outlet for CBC. In fact, we are to send inquiries to Kevin Payan, Maffin’s boss (erstwhile and de facto) and an esteemed colleague of Jeff Keay.

Here is the comment the current owners of that blog refused to post:

Well, if we’re only supposed to go through Kevin Payan now, tell him to stop leaving anonymous comments at the Tea Makers.

Wait – have I got that wrong?

Added later: I’m extending an open invitation to Tod Maffin to write a guest post for, or be (exit-)interviewed for, the Tea Makers.

27 Comments

  • Allan says:

    Tod Maffin didn’t realize he was buying an $800 phone when he bought his iPhone.
    Didn’t he once report on technology for the CBC?

  • Fake Ouimet says:

    I was a relentless critic of Maffin. But guess what? I’m not going to pick on a sick man in the particular way you seem to want me to.

    Besides, you need to get your story straight, Allan, about whether you were a supporter or detractor of Maffin’s. Your recent postings and comments here smack of opportunism.

  • Allan says:

    joe clark + Tod Maffin = excessive admiration of Tod Maffin.
    Moron that AT

  • Anonymous says:

    “Allan” + “Wandering Coyote” = plain old morons

  • Wandering Coyote says:

    “reasonably Hurculean” = oxymoron.

  • Allan says:

    Yes, heaven forbid you should put it up like a regular post, Hercules.
    Readers might get confused figuring out what’s your and what’s mine – the subtle difference between dumb and dumber.

  • Fake Ouimet says:

    Allan, I went to reasonably Herculean lengths to overcome the default CSS of this site ‒œÃ‚ just for your posts. The fonts, in cascading order, are: Corbel, Gill Sans, Lucida, Tahoma, sans-serif. That means if you don’t have any of the first four, your browser uses whatever you have or its has assigned as a sansserif font.

    Fascinating, nu?

  • Allan says:

    Apparently not, Mark.
    For example, your biting remarks.
    But you’re a heckler, not a performer.
    Submit a post, I beg you.
    For joe’s approval. He’ll run a magnifying glass over it, find numerous reasons to disqualify it, claim he had a similar post already prepared, and after you’ve been back and forth with him a hundred times, it might actually see the light of day.
    IN THE MOST HORRIBLE FONT HE CAN FIND!

    Friend of Claude was on fire.
    Even if the post itself sucks, there can be exceptional drama in the comments, some pretty impressive stuff.

    I think joe made two near fatal mistakes.
    First, he said “hi, I’m the new Ouimet. I’m joe clark.”

    Second, he made it clear that it was going to be his voice that dominated every corner of the room.

    Friend of … has already pointed out the critical quality of the content, but leaves it incomplete when not adding that the anonymity of the writer/editor was the heroic dimension of the work. The fact that no one individual was ever going to take credit for it.

    And there was collaboration.

    The opportunity for Mark to make his views known. To share his concerns and adjectives. To heckle.
    Yes, join in as you wish, Mark.
    We’re all just squatters now that ~O has given up the blogging life just like Maffin.
    Perhaps it’s a dying art.
    And there’ll be no blogs left about the CBC, because more boring than tuning into the CBC will be blogging about the CBC.

    Tod and Ouimet kept it interesting in their own way. Few are so talented.

    Tea Makers will be whatever you, Mark, and everyone else makes it.
    We all have to do our part.
    Or the terrorists win.

  • Mark says:

    God, would someone please put all these cranks out of their collective misery. Perhaps the few people left attempting to find constructive comment in a flood of badly written bile could take up a collection donate to PBS on their behalf.

    Teamakers used to be home of cheeky, provocative and went aimed commentary. Now it’s a place for about two people in need of better meds to let off their sulfurous steam.

    Surley the interweb can be put to better use.

  • Allan says:

    Tod had a grudging admiration for Teamakers, perhaps a seething jealousy, but nevertheless he treated the site as a friend, and it was mutual.

    He still is in town, and reading every word I write.
    At least when it’s about his favorite subject.
    But with the internet and ye olde telephone system we don’t actually need him to be physically present in order to communicate.
    I guess your radar doesn’t detect that his departure is not fully explained, and that’s fine. Your reputation is not based on being a journalist from what I understand.

    Tod did many great things at insidecbc but he also did some pretty horrible things too.
    The CBC make a mistake letting this individual exploit their credibility, and perhaps they have learned something from the experience.
    And perhaps not.
    They don’t seem to be too keen on learning new things, and Teamakers has been the only avenue to get through to them. We know that CBC’ers treat viewer/listener feedback as a joke, the way Tod did, and that they are far behind in understanding the internet, let alone fully utilizing it. The venerable behemoth doesn’t really connect with today’s generation, and oddly that generation includes you and I joe. And Tod.

    Keep up the good work, joseph. I find it very entertaining.

  • Fake Ouimet says:

    Yeah, apparently he was in town. Why would he want to see us? Really?

  • Allan says:

    It’s your chance to get that Exit Interview, joe.
    Show some initiative.
    Have you not been following Toddd on Twitter?

  • Allan says:

    A little birdie tells me that Tod Maffin is in Toronto this weekend.
    Surprisingly, he hasn’t called me.
    Perhaps he’ll be visiting the TBC after hours. As far as I know, he’s not been locked out.
    Tod is schedule to give one of his many Powerpoint presentations on Monday somewhere for a few thousand dollars. He already has another one lined up in Vancouver in November.
    It’s nice to see that Tod has so quickly recovered “from a couple of major health setbacks“.

    But I’ll be darned if I can find that blog of his which the Lavin agency claims is “followed by thousands of people in the media, tech and business worlds”.
    I have to wonder how he does it, without exploiting an association with a Crown Corporation.
    Any ideas, joe?

  • Fake Ouimet says:

    What I am going to suggest, Ami(e) de Claude, is that the productive affix -tard has been divorced from its original meaning, just as sucks and lame have been. You’re being a tad literal, but I’m getting used to that. Why, just this week I was accosted me in the halls of Fort Dork insisting I needed to stop using that phrase. It’s a jDoylism. I’ve got a post coming up on the etymology. Anyway, buildings don’t have feelings.

    I explained already that cripple was used ironically. Shitcan is established slang. I doubt you’d have much support for the contention that words like failure and lapse indicate cruelty.

    Incidentally, your comments are located in the wrong post.

  • Friend of Claude says:

    No, I’m not familiar with the slang. This is the kind of condescension I’m referring to. Should we all be so well versed in your own language in order to read this blog? And if we aren’t, we most certainly fail some test. Or just FAIL.

    All right, I’ll play along. I did indeed look up “freetard.”

    “A derogatory term aimed at zealous open-source proponents and their ilk.”

    Oh, well, that makes it much better.

    Are you going to suggest to me that the “tard” part doesn’t refer to “retard?” Are you going to tell me that “Teatard” does not sound like “retard?” I can read perfectly. We all can. We understand what you’re driving at.

    Like I said, I’ll play along:

    1) The cruelty drips from every post. Just look at the words. Snobs, Teatards, cripples, Fort Dork, failure, shitcanning, lapses. No number of tea cozies are going to lighten it up.

    2) I don’t know.

    3) Of course it is poisoned. Everyone knows that. They did studies on it. I’m not saying it isn’t poisoned.

    What I’m saying is that out of this poisoned environment, somehow, came a person who drank that poison, in huge gulps, and still came out swinging. And smiling! How did that happen? This is why everyone read it. It was clever, and it was dark. It was cutting. It was fun. It had hope.

    I realize living under its shadow can’t be easy. But calling you readers retards is maybe not the best way to deal with it.

  • Fake Ouimet says:

    No one is being called a “retard.” People who insist that the old Tea Makers persist even under new management I call Teatards⒞¢. If you’re not familiar with the slang, look up analogous terms like “Freetard.”

    Friend of Claude, tell me two things:

    • Where’s the “cruelty”?
    • Did Claude fire his assistant for pronouncing his name as “Clod”? (Claude refused to answer the question.)

    After you’re done telling me the second thing, tell me a third thing: Doesn’t the fact that this rumour exists indicate a poisoned work environment at the CBC?

    If you wish, you may additionally document how the CBC is no longer a poisoned work environment and I am way behind on the news.

  • Friend of Claude says:

    I’ve been thinking about this way more than I should, and as much as it pains me to say this, Allan is right.

    The old Teamakers could be nasty, but it was usually in good fun and the readers were (mostly) in on the joke. Everyone felt that they were welcome here.

    Amazingly, this new Teamakers has reached new heights of cruelty. I wouldn’t have thought it possible, but only looking back on it now I see what a delicate balance Ouimet struck between humor, wit, nastiness, and community. Now commenters are shat upon and called retards. There is a level of pretension and condescension here, I don’t know where it came from, but it’s no fun to read.

    I used to read this site every day. So did many of the people I worked with. Now no one reads it anymore. As it gets more cruel and bitter, it loses its relevance. I will give up on it myself.

    I understand, Joe, that you put a lot of work into it, and it can’t be easy. But hard work and experience do not mean good writing, or a good blog. Whoever Ouimet was, she had a gift. Only now do I realize what a treasure we had, for so many years.

    I miss it desperately.

  • Anonymous says:

    You’re silly to think Allan will welcome this news. What will he do now with his time?

  • Allan says:

    You want to accuse Kevin Payan of leaving anonymous comments?
    What evidence leads you to suggest that?
    Are you asking him to admit he’s a coward?
    That’s baiting people to come here and defend themselves. This is one of the tools in your journalism bag of tricks?
    You’re desperate, and it shows.

    Off topic?
    Gee, where have I heard that one before?

    Yes please, provides us with more of the names of people who won’t accept your invitation to join the discussion. Name names.
    These people need to be singled out for their lack of cooperation with joe clark.

    Show us all how a blog is really done. Not like that crap the old TeaMakers and insidecbc.

    Why did you want this blog and the TeaMakers name joe?
    Why did you beg to be allowed to take it over when you had such a low opinion of it?

    And don’t sidestep the Payan question either.

  • Patsy Gallant says:

    Fake Ouimet,

    Your Price is Right analogy falls flat. Drew is likeable, and the core content of the show remains accessible to a new generation of fans as well as the old guard with little friction.

    From a previous post, yes we can admit that you have put in some real effort to this thing, granted.

    Still, this blog has pretty much become the Joe, Allan and sundry other socially inept boys show. Agreeing with so much of Allan’s rant posted above gives me the creeps.

    As for Maffin: may the CBC learn its lesson well and never typecast anyone as a ‘tech guru’ ever again. Except John Brazill, that is.

    I’ve been here since the lockout, but now must erase all RSS and bookmarks and move on.

    Hasta la Vista, Teamakers! Remember to spay and neuter your pet peeves!

  • Fake Ouimet says:

    Allan, Maffin could write a guest post, as you did (twice), or could be interviewed, as Jay Ferguson of Sloan was.

    I may be doing a Greatest Hits of Inside the CBC post later, but I’m not going to pick on Maffin in the way you seem to want. And this isn’t the old Tea Makers. Again: You may have tuned in for Bob Barker, but he’s retired.

    The rest of your comment is off-topic when it isn’t unintelligible. I’ll go tell Kevin Payan.

  • Allan says:

    Inviting Maffin to post?
    So now who’s celebrity driven?
    And doing it so publicly.
    As if you were a bus stop.

    joe, sometimes you can be so effin’ out of touch with humanity. Tod is not about to post here any time soon, if ever. At the moment, he’s a basket case, or hadn’t you noticed. And what’s in it for him? Nothing but trouble.
    This place is a den of vipers, and you’d better have a thick skin like Antonia if you’re going to come around here.

    How’s your skin, joe?
    Mind if I take a strip?
    The way you try to bait people to come here and speak and leave their name is beneath you (or is nothing?).
    This shot you took at Payan is cheap.
    I get it. I understand how you can think you’re being so clever, but that’s not smart at all.
    It demeans all of us who want to participate here.

    You want Maffin to start writing for you? Making comments, being part of your audience?
    And then what? No one can say what they think of Maffin because you intend to protect his fragile state of mind. What horse shit.
    Tod can say what he wants but no one can say what they want about Tod’s bullshit.
    Reminds me of another phony blog – insidecbc.

    “oh joe, let me come to your safe haven and speak my mind in a place where mighty joe will protect me from vicious Allan”

    If you recognize vicious then perhaps you noticed it in your responses to the handicapped coverage story.
    You demean and attack a worker at the CBC saying she only has her job because she’s handicapped.
    But don’t anyone dare to say anything about Maffin or question his actions.
    Because he’s handicapped!

    You make reference to Fake Steve Jobs but you obviously didn’t understand the concept. The book was written by a guy pretending to be Steve Jobs as we expect him to be.
    You’re not at all like Ouimet.
    For one thing, she had a beautiful personality. And had respect for the people who came here.
    You’ve wrapped yourself in the logo of Teamakers the way Maffin did with the CBC. You’ve even adopted the name of Ouimet herself.
    But it’s all become a perversion of what the blog was.

    How long before you stifle free speech?
    Oh right, you didn’t promise us a rose garden.
    New rules. joe rules.
    It’s all about joe now.

    Guys like you are a nightmare. They have no conscience. They’ve been so ostracized socially that they’re quite used to being shunned as a way of life.
    You’ve given up on being loved and settled for being hated.
    It’s better than nothing.
    They’ll talk about you in the halls of the TBC alright. Not because of your great wit or breadth of issues, but because of your shocking insensitivity.
    It’s better than nothing.

    Now, if you’re trying to emulate being an asshole, then 100% success.

  • Johnny Happypants says:

    sadly, his terrible site was looking good next to this one.

  • Wandering Coyote says:

    Allan will be thrilled!

  • Anonymous says:

    The site clearly needs to be put out of its misery. Worst crime of all, it’s very boring.

    One thing he didn’t mention in his signoff – the blog came after the CBC 2005 Lockout, when Tod’s cbcunplugged website caused so much of a ruckus.

    What do they say about appropriating your enemies?

  • Anonymous says:

    Maffin was posting “insider details” about Radio 2 after the rest of the newspapers in the country did. If he had any readers left they might have complained.

  • Anonymous says:

    Every friggin six months there’s a Todd post on insidecbc saying things like:

    – blog entries will become less frequent, but more detailed

    – the blog will be administered by a team of people, not just me

    – I’m distancing myself from the blog for personal reasons-slash-heath matters

    … etc etc, but nothing ever changes over there. So I’ll believe it when I see it.

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