Andrew Chin's Portfolio

2007 to present

Popping & locking will seem tame
National Post. October 11, 2008.

This is a look at COBA's Africanist drumming and dance classes put on in the Bloor and Jane area. Through this class, I learned how to do the Willie Bounce.

Arts Profile: Rick Mercer
Post City Magazines. October 2008.

This profile on Rick Mercer (Canada's most popular overtly Canadian comic) examines his past record of election comedy and the results equal a majority victory.

Cover story: Maryam Sanati
Richmond Hill Post. October 2008.

This is a profile on Chatelaine editor-in-chief, Maryam Sanati, who has helped stabilize a workplace, had her first child and tuned me on Chatelaine's progressive past.

They're sambaing in the rain
National Post. September 13, 2008.

Last year's Brazilfest drew 8,000 people to Toronto Islands for an award-winning party. This year, rain conspired against it. Can they pull it together on Brazilian independence day?

Now Featuring Girls in Glasses!
National Post. September 6, 2008.

Back for its second year, queer lit festival Outside the Margins took over Church Village. While John Cameron Mitchell headlined, one glasses adorning (and loving) local stole the show.

School's In
Canadian Immigrant. September 2008.

This is a look at Canada's school system and attempts to break it down for immigrant parents and children who will be encountering it for the first time.

Toronto's Hip Hop Prince Ain't No Gangsta
UR. September 2008.

This is a 300-word introductory artist profile on Luu Breeze, a rapper from Scarborough who has a hot song ("Break 'em Off") and plenty of swag. He has been the subject of three other stories I've done, so I guess you can say I'm a fan.

A do-over for wallflowers
National Post. August 23, 2008.

Fake Prom was great and undeniably prom-my. Slow dancing to Richard Marx made me think about how emotional the song "Right Here Waiting" is. Good times.

Cartooning world tips its hat
National Post. August 16, 2008.

This is a story on the 4th annual Doug Wright awards for excellent work in comics that was co-founded by Seth. Chester Brown was there and I complained about being tired to Lynn Johnston mid-interview.

Pushing their buttons
National Post. August 16, 2008.

This One Inch Punch button art/trade show at the Lennox Contemporary Gallery was one of the coolest nights I've had around Ossington. I also scored a wicked Abe Lincoln button out of this.

The First Caribana
Sway. Summer 2008.

This is a first hand account of the first Caribana in 1967 as told by Charles Roach, one of the founding chairmen of the event and a prominent Canadian civil rights lawyer.

A Different Kind of Point and Shoot
National Post. July 19, 2008.

Casa Loma: Toronto's 20th century castle, Hollywood set piece and home to Sir Shawn Adams' archery drop-in program in the castle's stables. This was an extremely fun story to do.

A function for construction
National Post. July 19, 2008.

Streets are for People do the monthly Pedestrian Sundays in Kensington and they also take over an unusable street strip and turn it into an impromptu picnic (this year - Bathurst and Dupont).

Power suits and ties that bind
National Post. July 5, 2008.

For three days, I got to hang out with millionaires from around the world at literally, the Million Dollar Round Table's annual conference. A group made up solely of members of the top 1% financial service providers in the world and one that knows how to throw a wicked convention.

50 Great Summer Dates
Post City Magazines. July 2008.

It's the annual summer guide for Post City Magazines and it's a good one. It was also predominantly written by Sam Toman, whose headline writing abilities is as smooth as Hakeem Olajouwan's Dream Shake.

He's spun his last record
National Post. June 28, 2008.

For a decade, Davy Love ran THE Britpop night in Toronto. Blow-up was a blast but all good things must come to an end. Before skipping out of town, Davy threw himself a retirement party at Sneeky Dee's. Here's how it went.

The naked and the tread
National Post. June 21, 2008.

The funniest part about this story was that I had the girl from Dayton, Ohio's clothes in my backpack and was trying to track her down to return them to her. Have to be hospitable.

Serving up flair, on the rocks
National Post. June 7, 2008.

The people behind Bartender One specialize in flair-tending and each month in the summer, give people a chance to get their Tom Cruise-in-Cocktail on at the Beaches.

We'll call it the Tour de Front
National Post. June 7, 2008.

This is my coverage of the first Toronto Criterium, the city's first competitive bike race downtown in ages. It drew a huge crowd and inspired one man to ring his bell.

Jessica Simpson and Kate Hudson covet their coats
North Toronto Post. June 2008.

A graduates profile on Christie Smythe and Andrea Lenczner; two highschool friends that actually made their dream of starting a business together come true: their popular jacket company, Smythe.

The urban defender
North York Post. June 2008.

This is a profile on public space magazine, Spacing's publisher Matthew Blackett. In addition to self-publishing his independent comic m@b, he also taught me Quark at Humber College.

Cheeseblaster extreme?
National Post. May 17, 2008.

A video game jam is a three day convergance of programmers and artists who have to create a video game from scratch in three days. This is how TO Jam 3 went.

He met 'the Walrus'
North York Post. May 2008.

When Jerry Levitan was 14, he snuck into John Lennon's hotel and talked about peace with him. Since then, he made it constitutional for Canadians to shop on Sundays; bossed Jesse Ventura around in "Abraxas, Guardian of the Universe," and has shut down Orilia's school system with an appearance by his alter-ego, Sir Jerry, psychedelic children's entertainer extraordinaire.

Artist Profile: Plants and Animals
UR. May 2008.

UR is Rogers music and technology magazine that is given to Rogers cellphone subscribers for free. As I am with Telus, I have never seen this article in my life. I don't even know what the headline is.

Making light of sport
Grand. May-June 2008.

This is a 1500-word profile on sports personality, Cabral "Cabbie" Richards. One of The Score's biggest stars, Cabbie is the host of three shows on the network. He also grew up in Cambridge, which is my hometown.

'Just write it down and it's good'
National Post. April 26, 2008.

Emily Pohl-Weary is an independent author in Toronto. A proud Parkdale resident, she started the Parkdale Street Writers program that invited local artists to lead a writing workshop. There's plans for a video making offshoot of this program for the winter.

Tall Poppy: Chris Turner
Torontoist. April 19, 2008.

This is an extensive interview with The Geography of Hope writer, Chris Turner. He also wrote a bunch of fantastic articles for Shift, including one that turned into his first book, The Simpsons Generation. We talked about some of the reasons why things aren't so bleak in the world.

These podcasters are a slam dunk
The Globe and Mail. April 18, 2008.
co-written with Sam Toman

It's crazy to get a story published in The Globe and Mail, but to get one profiling your favourite basketball podcasters is just ridiculous. Also getting to hear those podcasters talk about your story is pretty ego-stroking. Thank God they liked it.

Tall Poppy: Wes "Maestro" Williams
Torontoist. March 22, 2008.

Wes Williams is a respected actor but for most Canadians of a certain generation, he will always live on as Maestro Fresh Wes: the brash rapper that made it cool to let your backbone slide. It was a thrill meeting Wes in person and one of these photos will be appearing in a textbook soon.

Tall Poppy: Boozy Suzy
Torontoist. March 8, 2008.

Hail Boozy Suzy - Pillow Fight League champion. Shortly after this interview, Suzy retired from the sport but during this interview she was at her swaggering best. Special thanks to Ian Munroe for taking the pics.

Neighbourhood must-see TV
National Post. February 9, 2008.

Regent Park Focus is a wonderful media arts organization that runs out of Regent Park, the first social housing project in Canada that's currently in the midst of a drastic reconstruction. Their emphasis on free media training for youths has been replicated throughout the city.

Chris Bosh, Thespian
Torontoist. February 6, 2008.

This is a blog post I did on Chris Bosh's awesome introduction of Blaine Harrington. It's one of my favourite stories because it somehow ended up on Hoops Hype and I noticed a suspicious use of the word "thespian" on The Score. Crazy how cocky you can be when you made it on Hoops Hype.

A nose for news
Richmond Hill Post. January 2008.

This is a profile on CBC video journalist, Steven D'Souza - a thorougly nice person who is doubly cool for admitting that his journalistic ambitions in college was to be an anchorman on TSN.

The Rump Shaker
Torontoist. December 2007 to June 2008.

For a few months, I did a weekly dance column for Torontoist profiling funky shows that were happening that week in the city. PS: Click on the links - they go to cool videos like Stevie Wonder performing on Sesame Street or an episode of Yacht Rock.

Local grad gives peace a chance with urban magazine
Bayview Post. December 2007.

Last year, urban magazine Peace celebrated its 15th anniversary. Here, I talk to its founder and publisher Harris Rosen about the magazine's story.

Just like they do it in the movies!
National Post. November 24, 2007.

This is a profile of the XSD performance martial arts program offered by Team Ryouko: a performance crew made up of professional stuntmen including John Cho's stunt double in the Harold and Kumar movies.

Cover story: Elliotte Friedman
North York Post. August 2007

Here is my first paid cover story profiling CBC sports broadcaster Elliotte Friedman. On top of being a good interviewer, he now does a fantastic job doing Raptors basketball for the CBC.

The art of the deal
Bayview Post. July 2007

This is a profile of successful real estate developer Bob Zamani. A bit of an anomoly considering that he went to Earl Haig, a prominent Toronto arts school.

The rolling stone
North Toronto Post. June 2007

This is a profile of Claire Cameron, a first-time novelist who isn't above visiting truck stops to sell her book.

Set to tackle CFL
Village Post. June 2007

Here is a profile of CFL commissioner Mark Cohon, who on-top of running the league is also the chairman of the Ontario Science Centre. What was cut from the story was the summer he spent on an Indonesian island observing primates.

A fusion reaction
North York Post. June 2007

This is a profile of autorickshaw singer Suba Sankaran, who also sings in Audioacity an all acapella 80's cover group. We did this interview at her home on the east end.