joins the cast of Robson Arms is the

Comedian Dave Foley (The Kids in the Hall) joins the cast of Robson Arms is the Season 3 première tonight on CTV, as landlord Chuck Hoskins, a true-blue eccentric American who moves north of the border after buying everyone's favourite building in Vancouver's West End.
-- Robson Arms returns in Metronews, Monday April 28th 2008

Is is right, or should in be in instead?

masterbation

So, after a completely gratuitous "dump" scene and masterbation interlude, Harold (John Cho) & Kumar (Kal Penn) are off to the cannabis cafes of Amsterdam - Kumar to forget his lost love and Harold to chase after a model he's newly in love with.
-- Harold and Kumar escape in 24 Hours Vancouver, Friday April 25th 2008

Correction: Masturbation.

a one-on-one coaching visits

The learning curve as a new travel consultant is very steep! Flight Centre has a fantastic 2-week intensive training course for all new consultants, followed by 4 sets of back-up training, a buddy system in my shop, and a one-on-one coaching visits from my trainer...
-- Flight Centre Advertising Supplement in 24 Hours Vancouver, Friday April 25th 2008

Notice the singular a followed by the plural visits. Two possible fixes: Omit the a, or change visits to visit.

thank them the donor

Donor Honored
In 2006, an anonymous donor stepped in and contributed $500,000 to save the historic Joy Kogawa House, at 1450 W. 64th Avenue. Today, the Land Conservancy of B.C. has scheduled an event to publicly thank them the donor.
-- local news IN BRIEF in 24 Hours Vancouver, Friday April 25th 2008

Get rid of either the donor or, preferably, them.

this years' list

"She's young, she's hot, she's a rising star and her sex appeal has definitely transformed this years' list." - FHM editor J.R. Futrell
-- Fox is hot in 24 Hours Vancouver, Friday April 25th 2008

The article itself has it right with this year's list - the above is from the set-apart quoted-text in the centre of the article, which is about Megan Fox being named world's sexiest woman by FHM Online's reader poll.

Loose Weight!

-- Brentwood Town Centre in Burnaby, BC, Canada, on April 25, 2008

After you lose weight, your clothes will be loose. At least one other identical sign is located elsewhere in the mall.

Reid Jewellery // Jewellry

-- Brentwood Town Centre, Friday April 25th 2008

Even though jewellery is perfectly acceptable on its own, Reid Jewelry is spelled incorrectly on the mall's directory because the store spells its name differently. See similar error here. According to this website, jewellry is not right in British, Canadian, or American spelling.

CD's

-- Packaging for a CD Binder by Universal Voyager

I don't get it. The s is already lower case (or at least smaller than the C and D), therefore omitting the apostrophe would correctly leave CDs. I can see how people want to put CD'S instead of CDS, but it's wrong. Same goes for DVDs. Just make the s lower case. Please.

CHURCHE'S CHICKEN

-- Receipt from Church's Chicken, Wednesday April 23rd 2008

The pic is a tad hard to read. Near the bottom is written: CHURCHE'S CHICKEN. The restaurant is called Church's Chicken. Churche's is rarely correct in any circumstance. A correct use: Churche's Mansion.

Bristish Columbia // click here, // Coffee news is Now // it's advertisers // at it's best!

In Bristish Columbia, Coffee News grows daily! Restaurant Owners, click here, to have Coffee News Available at your location.
Did you know that Coffee news is Now distributed in over 50 countries?
Read about the history of Coffee News! Learn the secrets of the success of Coffee News & it's advertisers.
See it in action. Learn why Coffee News can bring your business to the next level. Regional advertising at it's best!
-- www.CoffeeNewsBC.com, Friday April 25th 2008

Oh boy. The above is all on the homepage. First bold: British Columbia. Second bold: omit the comma after here. Third bold: Methinks the wrong N word is capitalised (to continue the previous sentence's strange capitalisation, I guess). Fourth and fifth bold: It's its for both. Use it's when contracting it is or it has, otherwise use its. See here for more on it's and its. What's odd is that on their FAQs page, its is used correctly three times. A different writer/editor, perhaps?

Bott's Dotts // Dr.Elbert Dotts

Road dots: Ever wonder what you call those fluorescent dots down the center of the highway? They're called Bott's Dotts, named after Dr.Elbert Dotts, a chemist with the California Department of Transportation, who invented them.
-- Did You Know... in Coffee News, Friday April 25th 2008

Naming the dots Bott's Dotts when the inventor is named Dotts had me puzzled, so I googled and found out that the above is wrong, wrong wrong. The inventor's name was actually Elbert Botts, and the dots are called Botts' dots. Also, a space is required between Dr. and Elbert.

It begs the question

While the Harold & Kumar flicks are indebted to the zany Bob Hope/Bing Crosby road movies of yore, the time-honoured Odd Couple dynamic is also an essential part of their appeal. It begs the question of whether the onscreen characterizations of uptight Harold and carefree Kumar are at all representative of Cho and Penn in reality. “It’s actually the opposite,” confesses Cho. “On set, I keep relaxed by making jokes. [Penn]’s the guy in the corner preparing because he’s such a good actor. I’m a hack, really. I’m just goofing off. As a result, I needle him even more on set.”
-- 'Harold & Kumar' takes on an uptight world in Westender, Thursday April 24th 2008

The writer needs to check out this website: http://begthequestion.info

our amazing City and it's citizens

-- Page 21 in The Vancouver Courier, Friday April 18th 2008

It's its. See here. Why is the first City capitalised?

a list of treatment centre

Orchard's website is at www.orchardrecovery.com. For a list of treatment centre in B.C., see www.canadiandrugrehabcentres.com.
-- High society in The Vancouver Courier, Wednesday April 23rd 2008

A list, by definition, has more than one item. Therefore, treatment centres.

Tim Thomas's left shoulder

The 35-year-old [Alexei] Kovalev's best was on display in Game 2 on Saturday. He scored the game winner 2 1/2 minutes into overtime with a blistering power-play slap shot over goalie Tim Thomas's left shoulder.
-- Inside The NHL: What Next? in Sports Illustrated, Monday April 21st 2008

I remember it well - the shot flew over Tim Thomas's right shoulder. See it here. Also, is it slapshot or slap shot. This short wikipedia page has the title, Slapshot, but starts, and continues, with slap shot before switching abruptly to slapshot near the end of the page. How 'bout some consistency?

Terms and Conidtions

Please read the Terms and Conidtions regarding your rental before you apply.
-- Celebration Pavilion at Queen Elizabeth Park, Tuesday April 22nd 2008

unique trees // no hazards in play // a selection... are also available

Located in one of Vancouver's most famous tourist attractions, the Queen Elizabeth Pitch & Putt offers beautiful city vistas in the midst of unique trees like the Ginkgo. These beautiful broad-leaf deciduous trees provide ample shade in the summer months and transitions to a brilliant gold in the fall, adding to the spectacular scenery in the park.
The 18 short, contoured par 3s (none over 110 yards), are set along a course where there are no hazards in play, making this a perfect course for those new to the game.
...
The Pro Shop offers club and caddy rentals, as well ball and tee sales. No advanced tee time bookings are required to enjoy this splendid course. No club rentals two hours before sunset. Twilight hour rates apply one hour before sunset. A selection of light snacks and refreshments are also available.
-- Queen Elizabeth Pitch & Putt, Tuesday April 22nd 2008

I suppose unique isn't wrong per se, but maybe superfluous? I guess water, sand bunkers, and trees don't fall under Queen E's definition of hazards. A selection (singular)... is (omit also) available. Or, omit A selection of and also to leave the better (in my opinion), Light snacks and refreshments are available.

Apocalytica

-- Page 79 in The Georgia Straight, Thursday April 17th 2008

Should be Apocalyptica.

Emile Ullerup

The Nominees for Best Lead Performance by a Female in a Dramatic Series are…

Emile Ullerup - jPod - Senseless Prom Death
Missy Peregrym - Reaper - Love Bullets and Blacktop
Claudette Mink - The Guard - Coming Through Fog
-- LEO AWARDS Nominees 2008, Tuesday April 22nd 2008

The missing i makes Emilie a male, as in Emile Hirsch.

Liberties Associations // sutuations

B.C. Civil Liberties Associations slams transit Taser use

The B.C. Civil Liberties Association has complained to the provincial police watchdog over the use of Tasers by Metro Vancouver transit police.
"The fact that Tasers are being used in sutuations that border on debt collection by the government is outrageous," association president Rob Holmes said in a news release.
-- B.C. Civil Liberties Associations slams transit Taser use in The Vancouver Sun, Thursday April 17th 2008

The first error is in the headline - the article is about just one association: the B.C. Civil Liberties Association. I'd say it's safe to assume that sutuations should be situations.

who's typical day

Contrast also my quaint experience of childhood as unstructured and self-organizing with today's child, who's typical day resembles a spreadsheet of prescribed activities performed in highly guarded environments. Unfettered as children, my generation became parents and turned childhood for our own kids into a lesson plan. Even play became a teachable moment.
-- Summer classes stifle children's right to run free in The Vancouver Courier, Wednesday April 16th 2008

Use who's when it could be who is or who was - otherwise use whose.

four-three unassisted double play

"[Texas Rangers second baseman Ian] Kinsler with a four-three unassisted double play."
-- Commentator on Sportsnet Pacific's Toronto Blue Jays broadcast, Wednesday April 16th 2008

Kinsler picked up the grounder, touched second base for a force out, then threw the ball to first for the second out. So it was indeed a 4-3 double play. But it took two players to make the play, so it's the opposite of unassisted. Just hearing, or reading, four-three is enough to tell you that it was unassisted. If Kinsler had caught a line drive and then tagged the baserunner out, that would be an unassisted double play.

McGee Secondary // to become to a top-notch performance

A rare opportunity was in store during an exclusive recital for a 14-year-old Vancouver wunderkind wanting to be a world-renowned pianist.
McGee Secondary student Tim Zhang played one of only six Fazioli pianos in the city, filling the entire 40th floor of a downtown highrise with "La Campanelle," a demanding piece by Hungarian classical composer Franz Liszt.
...
Though the award-winning ninth grader won't say he has nerves of steel when playing in front of a crowd, he did admit practice is imperative to become to a top-notch performance.
-- Virtuoso plays rare piano in 24 Hours Vancouver, Tuesday April 15th 2008

McGee Secondary in Vancouver? No such thing. The writer must mean Magee. And I can't make heads or tails of the second error. Little help?

SOPHIA'S HAIR STUDIO

-- Kingsgate Mall, Saturday April 12th 2008

by tansit or by car

The mall is easily accessed by tansit or by car.
-- Homepage of Kingsgate Mall, Monday April 14th 2008

A list of transit routes that stop within a block of the mall would be a nice feature to follow the above statement, rather than, or even in addition to, the car-encouraging (lots of free parking) that is currently there.

"Lely's Books Etc.

-- Sign at Dollar Land in Kingsgate Mall, Saturday April 12th 2008

Close that quotation! Also, is it Dollarland, as seen on the sign, or Dollar Land, as seen on Kingsgate Mall's directory and on the second sign in this later post? I'm going with the latter - it makes more sense to me.

Some of the them

Much to the surprise of [West End Residents Association's Aaron] Jasper and other members of the association, many of the plots had been assigned. Jasper was taken aback that 13 of the 23 parcels of the garden had been assigned, and he was amazed at the size of some plots.
"Some of the them are gargantuan," said Jasper. "They're bigger than some condos in the West End."
-- Garden giveaway big surprise in The Vancouver Courier, Friday April 11th 2008

Fascimile

Telephone xxx.xxx.xxxx
Toll Free x.xxx.xxx.xxxx
Fascimile xxx.xxx.xxxx
-- Official Receipt For Income Tax Purposes from BC Cancer Foundation, Tuesday July 24th 2007

According to this blog post, Typos are begotten of various reasons, ... a third having to do with a plethora of similar words where the troublesome letters are reversed. The last seems to be what is going on here. This word is both written and pronounced exactly the way it sounds, but the eyes and ears may have trouble telling it to the hand. Merriam Webster contains approximately three dozen words beginning with faci– and about the same for fasc–. However, there is only one word beginning with facs—and that's facsimile.

Caesar's Palace

The Jockey Club is ideally located on the Las Vegas Strip snuggled between City Center, Cosmopolitan, and the Bellagio. Guests may walk to Caesar's Palace, New York New York, MGM Grand, Bally's, and Monte Carlo Casinos for all their dining, gambling and entertainment needs.
-- www.jockeyclubvegas.com/, Thursday April 10th 2008

According to the Caesars Palace wikipedia page, it is called "Caesars" and not "Caesar's" because every guest is a Caesar.

for all you authentic

Retail sale of Playboy logo merchandise includes men’s and women’s apparel, activewear, swimwear, accessories, handbags, small leather goods, footwear, outerwear, lingerie, jewelry, gifts, music and collectibles. Shop at the Playboy Store for all you authentic Playboy clothing desires.
-- The Playboy Store in Las Vegas on visiticket.com, Thursday April 10th 2008

Where r you?

Reality TV = Movies?

-- How real is reality TV? in The Georgia Straight, Thursday April 3rd 2008

I wonder why an article about reality television that has nothing to do with movies - not a single reference or anything - is the lead story in the Movies section of this week's Straight..

Earl's // try the the many

More casual food options include Vera's Burger Shack (nine locations) and Earl's (also numerous locations); try the Kolachy Shop (888 Beatty St.) for unique "bunwiches," Sophie's Cosmic Cafe (2095 W. 4th Ave.) for old-fashioned burgers and shakes, or try the the many takeout options on Granville Island.
-- 48 Hours in Vancouver in Air Miles: inspired living, spring/summer 2008

No apostrophe in Earls. One too many thes.

Raif Mair

Last week, an overflow crowd of over 1,000 attended a public meeting in Pitt Meadows on the proposal to put power lines through Pinecone Burke Provincial Park. Loggers, treehuggers, natives and everyday folks gathered to tell representatives of Northwest Cascade Power Ltd. and the B.C. government where they could stick their high-tension lines. Former broadcaster Raif Mair brought his firebreathing populism to the microphone, along with a conga line of indignant speakers.
-- Democratic action is most effective when it's fun in The Vancouver Courier, Friday April 4th 2008

Rafe. 'Nuff said.

Noam Murrow

The audition process doesn’t always involve a big dark room with a director and casting agent. After seeing Ellen Page in the indie film Hard Candy, Smart People director Noam Murro liked her for the role of overachieving Vanessa. So the two met not in Hollywood, but at a Burger King at the Newark Airport. Page flew in from Canada, Murrow from Pittsburgh. Murrow quickly realized she was the one, but it had nothing to do with their conversation or the way she ate her Whopper. As he recalls, “I saw her small figure and frame walking towards me and I just knew in that instant that she was the genius I was looking for.”
-- Whopper of a role (bottom of the, uhm, page) in Famous, March 2008

It's one thing to spell someone's name wrong. It's another to spell it right the first time, then spell it wrong the rest of the time.

Article About Smithsonian Error

This Yahoo! News article about an error has a fun ending:

ALLEGAN, Mich. - Is fifth-grader Kenton Stufflebeam smarter than the Smithsonian?
On a winter break trip with his family to the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History, the 11-year-old southwestern Michigan boy [Kenton Stufflebeam] noticed that a notation, in bold lettering, mistakenly identified the Precambrian as an era.
Since it opened in 1981, millions of people have paraded past the museum's Tower of Time, a display involving prehistoric time. Kenton was the first to point out the error.
Kenton, who lives in Allegan but attends Alamo Elementary School near Kalamazoo, said his fifth-grade teacher, John Chapman, had nearly made the same mistake about the Precambrian in a classroom earth-science lesson before catching himself.
"I knew Mr. Chapman wouldn't tell all these students" bad information, the boy told the Kalamazoo Gazette for a story published Wednesday.
So Kevin Stufflebeam took his son to the museum's information desk to report Kenton's concern on a comment form.
Last week, the boy received a letter from the museum acknowledging that his observation was "spot on."
"The Precambrian is a dimensionless unit of time, which embraces all the time between the origin of Earth and the beginning of the Cambrian Period of geologic time," the letter says.
The solution to the problem would not involve advanced science but rather simply painting over the word "era," the note says.
While no previous visitors to the museum had brought up the error, it has long rankled the paleobiology department's staff, who noticed it even before the Tower of Time was erected 27 years ago, said Lorraine Ramsdell, educational technician for the museum.
"The question is, why was it put up with that on it in the first place?" Ramsdell said.
Excited as he was to receive the correspondence from museum officials, he couldn't help but point out that it was addressed to Kenton Slufflebeam. In Allegany.

AMY JO LIFFESTYLE

-- Shoe Pavilion outlet store in Burlington, Sunday March 30th 2008

Bake Someting SWEET

-- Sign in a Tulalip outlet store, Sunday March 30th 2008

Eat a lot of cupcakes and you'll get a sugar ig, rigt?

Eagle's Thanks You!

-- Sign at Eagles Buffet at Tulalip Casino, Sunday March 30th 2008

The size and permanence of this error makes this one of my favorites thus far. You know what, I think I'll create a sidebar best of list, with thanks to this sign for the prompting. I've posted a couple of standout errors. The apostrophe looks like it wants to be an accent agu over the s. For the record, there should be no apostrophe at all.

from these rule

Any deviation from these rule will result in voiding the ticket and/or winnings.
-- Keno Rules on back of Keno playing sheet at Tulalip Casino, Sunday March 30th 2008

Make up your mind, this rule or these rules, but never this rules or these rule. Except when playing Winning Eleven. Then you can say, "this rules!"

20 Items or Less!

-- Checkout at Walmart in Tulalip, Sunday March 30th 2008

It should be fewer, not less. See this webpage, where they write, The words “less” and “fewer” have similar meanings. However, they cannot be used interchangeably. Use “fewer” when referring to an amount that could be expressed as a specific number. Use “less” when making comparisons that do not lend themselves to numeric amounts. Therefore, it's fewer items and less water. Got it? You can probably find this error at your local supermarket - or any supermarket. I have always seen it written with less.

Monsterous

24" Monsterous Diameter
-- A listed feature on packages of Big EZ Sports Flying Disc at Walmart in Tulalip, Sunday March 30th 2008

Not really a monstrous error, but an error nonetheless.

the pedestal for the statute

The Ernie Banks statue in front of Wrigley Field was a big hit when it was unveiled, but it turned into an error – a punctuation error, that is.
The likeness of the 77-year-old Hall of Famer best known as "Mr. Cub" was unveiled to much fanfare on Monday.
But the "Let's Play Two" inscription on the pedestal for the statute was missing the apostrophe before the "s."
The sculptor, Lou Cella, took some gentle ribbing from radio jocks, reporters and columnists. But he says he is an artist, not a writer.
The error was fixed in short order. On Wednesday morning, crews came and etched an apostrophe into the inscription.
-- Error Caught On Pedestal For Ernie Banks Statue on cbs2chicago.com, Tuesday April 2nd 2008

Found this via an Apostrophe Abuse post. An error in an article about an error - that is delicious.

Jeff Francouer

FRENCHY CONNECTION [Jeff] Francouer saw his home run total fall last season, but he still raked in the doubles (40) and RBIs (105).
-- Photo caption in Sports Illustrated, Monday March 24th 2008

Years ago, Sports Illustrated made this exact same error. I recall a letter, printed a couple of issues later, by an Atlanta Braves fan who excused the error as Francoeur (correct spelling) was an under-the-radar player. Can that fan excuse it again as Francoeur is now a well-known player? In the photo, you can clearly see the last three letters of his last name on the back of his jersey.

The Vancouver Courier's kudos & kvetches: "begs the question"

I was hesitant to do so, but the error I posted about in my last post compelled me to email The Vancouver Courier with some kudos & kvetches. In their subsequent issue, the writers of kudos & kvetches address the begs the question issue using my email as a springboard. To read today's kudos & kvetches, click here.

which begs the question...

All of which begs the question, just who has been demanding McDonald's bring back the McRib and dethaw it from the greasy vaults of yesteryear?
-- "Ribbed for pleasure (kudos & kvetches)" in The Vancouver Courier, Friday March 28th 2008

See http://begthequestion.info.

oportunity

2008 Natuzzi Collection - The oportunity to personalize the creation of your living room..
-- Natuzzi advertisement in The Georgia Straight, Thursday March 27th 2008

Two p or not two p? Two p, in opportunity.