Saturday, December 30, 2006

Saddam Hussien - Photos

Has anyone seen the photos of Saddam about to go in to the noose and the next photo of Saddam dead. Totaly disturbing! I really didn't want to see them. I bumped in to them on perezhilton.com a celebrity gossip site. I am not going to link there cause then it would be too easy for you to go see them. They will be hard to avoid on the net though.

Friday, December 29, 2006

Noticeably Absent Award

Now the flipside of the 'Cult of Celebrity' award, the Noticeably Absent Award award. Who is not talked about enough? Who is really good at what they do, but largely ignored by the media? Again, leave your nominees in the comment section - the top nominees will be included in a poll for voting.

Cult of Celebrity Award

Not an annual thing, but a as often as I get around to it thing, - the Exile Award will go to someone who gets way too much attention. So, who are you tired of hearing about? Who gets alot of press but is completely irrelevant to your life? If you could make one celebrity or newsmaker simply vanish, never to be heard from again - not even a 'where are they now' a decade from now - who would it be? Please leave your nominees in the comment section - the top nominees will be added to a poll for voting.

Thursday, December 28, 2006

Testing 1-2-3

Here I am. Writing on this pop culture blog. Are you out there reading me? I hope you are. If you wonder how I got here? Well, Justin Beach from myspace friends of CBC was looking for contributers for his blogs so I signed myself up. There are no guidelines on this blog. Yay freedom. So that makes me happy as hell. That is all for now. I will be back.

Death and The Holidays

Well Christmas is over for another year and a new year is about to begin. I intend to use Lennonisms when ever possible. The problem with the holidays is that the normalities of life do not stop for it. There are births which are extra special and there are deaths which are extra tough. Look at the news, first musician James Brown and second former U.S. President Gerald R. Ford. It is not only "famous" people, a family in Ontario lost members in a car wreck in Pennsylvania. The headlines only bring to light, how tough the holidays can be. For many families the celebrations are also filled with great grief. The first Christmas "with out" a certain member. This is why I hope everyone was able to find a little light in the star on their Christmas tree or in the burning of their prayer candles. These are only vague examples but I hope in some small way they make us aware that among the wonderful miracles are extreme tragedies and natural courses of life.

Ramble on
John

Sunday, December 24, 2006

In the Spirit of the Season

It is nice to read stories like this. If it was in Canada though, you would have a hard time getting any place to take your $50 bill (they usually look at you funny when you start to pay with red bills or brown ones). Put on some John Lennon today and imagine, or believe that war is over, if you want it to be, and have a happy Christmas or whatever your faith is, may it be the best of times.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061223/ap_on_fe_st/bus_santa_5

Ramble on
John

Thursday, December 21, 2006

Neil Young's Heart of Gold Movie

Tonight I was flipping through the choices offered by the Movie Network. These choices are often very limited and many months behind their actual release dates. Most of the movies on these channels I would not give the time of the day to. I often wonder why I even keep these channels but since they are all a part of a Rogers bundle, they are there. Tonight was I surprised, elated, delighted and vindicated. There at 9pm was Neil Young's Heart of Gold movie. I am huge fan of Neil's and had heard the buzz surrounding this movie when it was shown at the Toronto International Film Festival. I had even picked up the CD/DVD many times at the various record stores I browse. Why had I not bought it? I asked myself over and over tonight. Was it the money? Maybe 30 plus dollars, I doubt it. Simple ignorance is my conclusion. This movie/concert is a masterpiece. The music is raw, pure and honest. Nashville Tennesse is the appropriate setting, inside the intimate Ryman music hall. Neil begins with a complete playing of his 2005 Prairie Wind album, which had just been released. This album is as good as gold, and the live playing is brilliant. Beginning with my favourite song from it, "The Painter" through "God Made Me". The craftmanship of these songs live is so precise. The feelings bleed like gold through his fingers and the words inspire like wisdom through his lips. I have never sat so completely in awe before as I did watching this. Neil is at nature, an isolationist, seen as cranky, opinionated, rude and blunt depending on the situation. On stage this night, surrounded by his friends, most of them accomplished musicians in their own right, including the legendary Emmylou Harris, he is humble. His brief conversations with the audience are full of humility, generousity, and humour. He seems like a man at peace with his place in life. Having survived an aneurysm and losing his daddy as he called him, he is a changed man. But still driven as only Neil is with the recently released Living With War. But this night was about the music, friends, family, and giving back, not about politics or war. It was Neil his guitars, harmonicas and his songs, even the covers are his songs when he puts his voice to them. After the playing of Prairie Wind comes the hits, Heart of Gold, Old Man, The Needle and The Damage done, my favourite Harvest Moon and an appropriate cover of Four Strong Winds. There in the heart of Nashville, is the grandfather of grunge, California resident, Canadian born, musical icon playing a Canadian folk song. Only Neil. He can transcend generations, genres and it simply comes down to the music. I am a fan of the acoustic music, it is what I like best, stripped to the core and this movie definitely falls into that category. Whether you are a fan or not, there is an old man, in a cowboy hat, with an old guitar, flanked by his friends and because of that we are all left with a little more gold in our hearts.

Ramble on
John

Euthanasia

With the death of the Italian man Piergiorgaio Welby, the topic of euthanasia is once again in the headlines. Mr. Welby had fought for months now for greater rights for the terminally ill to end their own lives. It has raised a tremendous amount of debate in the strongly catholic parts of Europe. The Vacitan believes that life should begin and end naturally, no matter the suffering. The link to the article is below.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/21/world/europe/22italycnd.html
Personally, I feel that a person has the right to die with dignity. If they are terminally ill beyond all medical treatments and if it is their desire, they should be allowed assistance in ending their life. I would place one condition on this. There would have to be evidence that their suffering is beyond "normal" human suffering. Their pain would have to be so extreme that medicine does not ease it. Life support equipment should be used as long as the vital signs are normal. Being brain dead, is being dead, if you can not think, why would you want to live. Euthanasia blurs the lines of suicide, and doctors like the soon to be paroled, Jack Kevorkian are famous from it.
Suicide is a mistake. It is a selfish way out and should never be tied in with euthanasia. In my opinion most suicides steam from a personal disconnection with the world, they are used by people who see no other alternative. They are glamourized by people like Kurt Cobain, and they should not be. It is a weak act and mental illnesses can be cured, nurtured and corrected. When a person commits suicide they are not only cheating themselves but cheating their friends, family and those that may have met them had they lived their lives out. There will be no greater story you will tell if you are able to rise up out of the depths of an mental illness. When you are old, wrinkled and brittle, you will be able to tell a wise story to a person who may feel the way you did once. This world is cruel at times, with its wars, religious fractions, extremists, and diseases. At times, it is easy to become displaced. When we find strength in our friends, families and strangers, we will realize that all the strength we have every needed is deep inside ourselves. Where the skin protects the bones and the blood flows free in between.
Back to euthanasia, in Canada, my understanding is that it is illegal. I have pulled out sections from the Criminal Code of Canada.

"14. No person is entitled to consent to have death inflicted on him, and such consent does not affect the criminal responsibility of any person by whom death may be inflicted on the person by whom consent is given.
"241. Everyone who counsels a person to commit suicide or aids or abets a person to commit suicide, whether suicide ensues or not, is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding fourteen years."


I believe the Charter of Rights and Freedoms can be invoked here to debate that it is our Canadian right to die. The Charter tends to be used unnecessarily at times but with out it, I believe we would not have the core of our Canadian indentity. I will leave the debating for those with more knowledge than I have at the moment. I will end this with a simple statement, if I am terminally ill, unable to function as a normal human person, I want to die with out further disintergration of my body and mind.

Ramble on
John

24 Hour Shopping People

Originally Posted to 'the Fake Headlines' by Mike Vardy

Having worked in retail for many years (until recently), I decided to focus my first entry on this blog to the recent 24 hour shopping schedule that Walmart adopted. And since the blog is entitled "The Fake Headlines", I thought I'd open up with a "fake" (a la The Onion) news story. Enjoy.

Walmart forcing potential shoppers out of bed to justify 24 hour schedule

Walmart's controversial "24 hour Christmas Week" stance took an ugly (yet not totally unexpected) turn this week as hundreds of people were forcibly removed from their homes at ungodly hours to shop at their stores.

Twenty Walmart employees at the Ancaster, Ontario location were sent out of the building at 2:13 am to begin rounding up the shoppers. Each were assigned a section as divided by postal codes, and began their herding. While some of those "convinced" to shop did so with little influence from these recruiters, many more had to be dragged from bed and thrown into large shopping carts prepared outside their homes.

"It was horrific" stated Marjorie Stinson of Truro, Nova Scotia. "We were so groggy from sleeping that we couldn't overpower them. But on the bright side, I snagged a really great single-cup coffeemaker for my aunt with very little waiting in line."

The 24 hour operation for the week of Christmas was implemented to boost sagging sales, as walmart struggles thanks to online shopping, primarily from auction sites such as eBay.

Herv Johnson, Vice President of Strategic Hour Implementation for Walmart Canada, simply views it as smart business. "If these people are up at ungodly hours surfing porn on the internet, they should be able to come in and buy their kids some My Little Pony...or Ponies."

Employees of Walmart stores were too tired to comment.


Has the holiday season really come to this? I have a suggestion for anyone reading this. Avoid the line-ups and causing people to work at terrible hours by doing the following: start your Christmas shopping for next year December 26th.

I mean isn't that when all the sales are anyway?

Much More Retro

Not only are the videos horrible, remember the 1980's. But the music is the worst of the times, come on Criminal Mind. Much More Music could be so much better, if it would find its market better. Some of their programming is great for the Adult Alternative market but there are way too many reality shows and stupid "lists". Show more live music, like storytellers or intimate and interactive. Quite wasting our time with garbage, if we want to hear crappy music, we can turn on the radio, play live music, become cutting edge for those of us 25-40.
So the FBI released its final classified John Lennon documents. Guess what they contained nothing out of the ordinary, kind of like not having weapons of mass destruction. Imagine that.

Ramble on
John

An Introduction of Sorts

Well since this is my first blog, I thought I should introduce myself along with my interests. I am John, I live in the beautifully underappreciated in Canada, city of London. I am politically Liberal, rooted in the policies of Trudeau and Chretien. Are we not lucky that Jean said no to Bush on Iraq, it is bad enough we are losing lives in Afghanistan, imagine what we would be saying if we were also losing them on the streets of Baghdad. I believe Mr. George W. has himself quite the quagmire, or should I say the next President does. They can not stay and continue the way they are, the public won't let more soldiers die with out costing the Republicans the office in 2008. But they can not leave either, if the job has not been finished, that too would cost the Republicans the White House. Personally I hope Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama win in 2008. It would send the world a message that the American people are ready for a woman or a man of colour to lead them, and conversely the World. I would certainly hope it would be able to unite their country, blur political and gender biases. Like most of us, a country's biases are generations old and perhaps can not change. I think though that America and the World need a strong leader, a person that make positive changes, bridge religious and ethnic boundaries. Hey, maybe Bill should run again, but I'm sure he will be the best first male in history, oh wait.
Onto the wonderful world of television, I watch two shows fairly religiously. They are The Hour on the CBC and the Late Show on CBS. George and Dave are my two TV friends, and each night they are there putting on quality televison for me. I know it is pathetic having television friends. I have been watching Letterman since the early 1990's, I love the wittiness of his humour and although he has mellowed, he still knows how to jab a guest just the right way to ignite a little bit of controversy. Leno, has better guests, writers, but is too much of suck up and lacking the depth of his conversation skills when interviewing. Remember Dave after 9/11. Enough said. As for The Hour, I have just started watching it for the last couple of months. It is the best show on Canaidan television and I am glad, the CBC has let George do his thing, it shows in the product, which is cutting edge politically, socially, comically and is worth an hour of my time every night.
As for music, I could write miles on this subject. Simply put, I love it. Right now I am into singer song writers. Don't follow the hip hop scene, rap scene, heavy metal scene, or the indie scene. I listen to what comes across through the mainstream. My all time favourite band is Counting Crows. I remember being in my early teens, half asleep listening to London's FM96 and hearing the opening to Round Here, well I sat straight up and had to know who they were. Since then, I have been a fan. I also love Neil Young, After The Gold Rush, Harvest Moon and Heart of Gold are two staples of my playlist. Those songs are
beautifully inspirational. Other musicians that interest me, Ryan Adams (not Bryan) he is great. Amos Lee, has the best soul voice I have heard in a long time, Colours and In The Arms of a Woman, they move me. Canadians, Sam Roberts, Ron Sexsmith and The Trews are constants. Legends like Tom Petty and Bob Dylan have come back to me in their most recent CDs. In my opinion Roy Orbison has the best voice in the history of music. I know that is a long history and very debatable but man listened to him on a Love So Beautiful. Plans from Death Cab For Cutie was the CD I listen to the most this year, from beginning to end it was great. The Killers, Sam Town is good but not as good.
By the way I also have lots of opinions on sports, but will hold those off for now. I am sure I have reached a limit in your attention span, many words ago.

Ramble on
John

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Things to come

So, everyone is Time's person of the year. More specifically those who are driving the information age. This is huge. I mean, for those of you who've been tongue-in-cheekishly claiming that you are 'waiting for the revolution, this is it.

Consider for a moment the great social, economic and political changes brought about by the invention of the printing press, the radio and the television. Now given the relatively small number of people who had access to those - for example, only the literate (a relatively small number until the last century) could really take advantage of the printing press, yet it was responsible for the reformation and, for all intents and purposes, the end of European monarchy, not to mention the birth of communism.

Think of how few people actually got to broadcast, and control editorial content in television and radio. Now consider what happens when that power is in the hands of millions, even tens and hundreds of millions. Times 'Person of the Year' designation only marks the beginning of the revolution and now that it's here...


Now that the revolution is here, who really will be the first against the wall.
Politicians in general
Conservative politicians in particular
The very, very wealthy
Advertising people
Polluters
Weapons manufacturers
Regis Philbin
Wall manufacturers
Other (see comment section)
  
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Sunday, December 17, 2006

A short late night blog with a CBC link as well!

http://gorbould.com/blog/ to read Pauls blog about myspace.com

He's got some points and does some funny nitpicking. I'm not sure how Canadian use of Myspace generates dollars against murdochs cents in revenue but I concur. Murdoch is evil. Evil people finance most of the art I love. Sad. How many of you are willing to give up the things you love.

I heard today that almost all the lead filled computer garbage we generate is being shipped to China and is burned in small villages. Old news but it's still happening.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A56653-2003Feb24

http://www.cbc.ca/consumers/market/files/environ/hitech_trash/

This might be a reason trashy sites like Myspace which connect you with spammers and creeps are evil, not because a postal code doesn't work. Most average computer users do not maintain there computers well and spam, spyware, and viruses from pop culture sites lead to shorter computer lifespans.

Friday, December 15, 2006

MySpace and Judo

Paul Gourbould has an entertaining post on his MySpace experience up today and, while he has many good and valid points, because I'm mentioned in it, I thought I should respond.

I have never encouraged an individual to use MySpace. MySpace is owned by Fox and Fox and it's owner Rupert Murdoch are undoubtedly evil.

However, aside from Google perhaps, mySpace is also the internet hit of the decade. Even YouTube owes at least part of it's success to mySpace. Given it's success and tens of millions of users, it cannot be ignored.

What I have done with MySpace is a bit of Judo (which relies heavily on using your enemies strength against him.) MySpace is fairly unregulated - Fox is, after all, cheap and it would take a staff of thousands to monitor the activity of the tens of millions of MySpace users. So, Fox sets up weak guidelines and allows a free for all.

I have used MySpace to promote The CBC, at Rupert Murdoch's expense, and to promote my website as well as Canadian blogs, vlogs, podcasts, television, film, bands, artists, photographers, theatre, books, web sites etc., and to network with Canadian artists, content creators, activists and fans. I have heard from many, many people who discovered Canadian offerings (see list above) through my MySpace accounts and, because of the international nature of the site, not all of them were Canadians.

I don't have hard figures, but I'd say that for every penny Murdoch has made from the ads on my MySpace account, a Canadian has made a few dollars. When you consider the competitive nature of media, it is quite likely that Fox has actually lost money from my being there.

It is worth mentioning too that anyone who is going to upload content to MySpace should carefully read the terms of service, you may be giving Fox more rights than you want to, and you can always just put the content on a different site and link to it.

So to recap, Fox is evil, Murdoch is evil but never before has CanCon had such easy, free access to international advertising - all paid for by Fox.

Thursday, December 14, 2006

Chiming in...

...a little late here. I would like to introduce myself. My name is Terre, and I am from Kitchener, Ontario. The reason I am speaking up so late is that my partner from the UK was visiting for a little while. I wanted to get time with him, clear my head, and then introduce myself.

My interest in The Hype is to create an occasional commentary on what I see happening around me. I tend to be a quiet observer, speaking more about politics than quirky superficiality. I chuckle quietly to myself at such things as the fact that the National Post is so unpopular at the University of Waterloo that they have to give it away for free, just to get people to read it, or at the occasional and unintentionally comedic situation where everyone behaves like a caricature of themselves. I hope to write some of my reflections that I generally keep to myself (the quirky superficialities), but find people pondering, or laughing when I say them out loud. I am respectful, occasionally irreverent, but always thoughtful and considerate.

Back to me for a minute, as this is an introduction. As I said before, I am Terre. I am a 31 year old attached mother of two children. I am openly socialist. My heroes include Tommy Douglas, Raffi Cavoukian, and David Suzuki. My partner, Jay, is a documentary film maker and media activist in the UK. SilenceBreaker Films is his company. At some point he is likely to immigrate here and maybe start crusading for social justice in a country that is just starting to slip. He will be starting filming for his latest film, Escape from Doncatraz, in the new year. Expect great things.

I live in a housing co-operative, use public transit, bank at a credit union, am a member of a car co-operative, and try to minimize my impact on our over-taxed planet. I am also a proud vegan, but am never preachy, or make my omnivorous friends feel uncomfortable.

I suppose that is enough to give you an idea of who I am, in a nutshell. I will be updating again soon.

Till next time

Terre

.... What's the story?....

I read yesterday that the last of the major American newspaper's' were closing
their office in Toronto... (when I find where I read this I will add)....
but the point to me is this...
For many reasons it's not viable to have an office in any given city anymore...
What's the point of paying rent... when, thanks to the Internet...
You can do your job from anywhere...??
But the other side of this story ... to me...
is that there is NO Canadian story...
We're a bunch of mild mannered complacent rule following good folk....
There's no upheaval... no civil unrest.... we are all making our way and getting by...
And this is where HYPE comes in...
We are becoming the story...
We are unravelling the mystery that has let us become this machine of efficiency.
Any time you stray from the pack.... there are questions lurking...
As a nation we seem actively engaged in what we are becoming...
And fishing for a taste of what we were...
mixed with the possibility of transformations ahead....
So let them leave I say...
Let's float here under the radar...
So close to the infiltrators and yet so far!
I'm beginning to see .... how we can make our stories watchable for us!
That as we break free from the subtle/not so subtle influence of our neighbours to the south...
We have the creativity and means to make something Canadian!
That as we connect through the vehicle of media... we will empower ourselves into delight.
And set an example.... to the world( if they want) .... of what can happen when people decide
what to watch and when and how...
I'm tired of those old ways anyway... sitcoms-laugh tracks-reality tv= tired.
Where do we go from here?
It's a ripe nut ready to crack!

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

IT's JUST WRONG TO FUCK KIDS, AMEN!

I had the chance to seeDeliver Us From Evil this evening. For those of you who are unaware of this documentary or what it is about, well, it's about the child sex abuse in the Catholic Church. It seems to me that they mention Clergy abuse a lot but I saw no evidence of children abusing clergy. This movie exposes what is plainly abuse perpetuated by the clergy on vast amounts of children. Vast as in over 100,000 victims in America alone. The movie centers around one abuser in particular, Father Oliver O'grady, who is thought to have abuse in excess of 100 victims himself.

Previous to viewing this movie I read reviews focusing on Father O'grady and his charismatic charm which enabled him to get away with these crimes. The fact of the matter is the Catholic Church enabled him and many others to get away with these crimes. Since the 4th century the Catholic Church has had a history of sexual abuse against Children. Around the same time the instuted that good old celebacy rule.

I was really worked up but words are failing me now and I'm really tired. This is a well presented Documentary that I believe only biased Catholic Critics could punch a hole in. Visit the website and see the movie. Something needs to be done and awareness of the problem is just the first step. Niave as it sound I think this my last statement is true.

Hello and good day!

Hey everyone,

So this is my introductory post, and I am delighted to see that there is a spell checker on this thing! I may be a writer but spelling is not in my skill set ;)

Anyhoo, I am a poet and an essayist, a producer and a dream weaver. I am the founder of the Sista'Hood Celebration http://sistahoodcelebration.com and the Working Arts Society non-profit that supports the festival. I have been performing for almost a decade and have been writing my whole life (well almost!) and am at the beginning of a year sabbatical from producing and organizing in order to fill my creative well. I have been writing grants for far too long and need to get back to writing non-business type stuff!

Hence, my offer to contribute to this blog! So with that...

A way we go!

It's worse than you thought

If you thought that another Rocky movie represented a new low in Hollywood's creativity deficit, boy were you ever optimistic. It appears that the big studios are actually willing to stoop as low as another Rambo movie. In 2008 a geriatric John Rambo will head off into the jungles of Thailand to save..er..someone. Will anyone who owes Sylvester Stalone money please pay up so he can retire?

And now, to east the pain a bit - a classic:




Tuesday, December 12, 2006

What happened to the contributors list?

What happened to the contributors list in the column to the right of this blog?

Sunday, December 10, 2006

The End of the CRTC

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) claims on their website that they represent "Communications in the Public Interest" . They haven't really been that in a long time. Their job now is more about dividing up the cash pie between broadcasters. They have been, for years, watering down Canadian content requirements, news and public affairs requirements, advertising restrictions and generally selling out the public interest to large media companies who, although they make use of the public airwaves, find acting in the public interest inconvenient and not profitable enough. The reality though is that the CRTC is trying desperately and in vain to make friends because it is on the verge of being irrelevant.

The CRTC has decided, repeatedly, since 1999 that it won't regulate the internet or the content on the internet. This is largely, I think, because it can't regulate the internet. The only country to make a serious attempt at internet regulation is China and despite hundreds of millions of dollars spent in the effort, 'the Great Firewall of China' is failing. Trying to regulate or control the flow of information over the internet is about as easily accomplished as trying to bail out the Atlantic ocean with a spoon.

In 10 years, give or take, whether you live in Beijing, or Saskatoon there will essentially be no difference between your television, your radio, your phone and your computer - any device that performs any of these functions will be able to perform all of them. What's more, any programming (or content) produced anywhere in the world will be available to everyone 24/7. There won't be any more TV schedules - your computer, or personal video recorder or other such device will simply find and save the things you like, then when you have time to watch or listen you will have the programming you like a click away.

For artists and content creators, the bad news is that, although Canadian content can still be subsidized, it cannot be protected, even within Canada. The good news is that Canadian artists and content creators will have easy access to the entire world.

From a broadcast perspective it is a whole new ball game. The CBC, Global, CTV etc., will only get any substantial revenue from content they produce themselves. Even if you can 'download' Lost from CTV, why would ABC allow CTV any substantial revenue? You could just as easily download it from ABC. ABC might pay CTV a few cents per download, but CTV would essentially be acting as, what we call on the web a mirror site. It is also unlikely that ABC would allow a mirror site to sell any advertising on the show, which means if Canadian business' want to advertise, they will have to buy time from the American networks, or buy ad time on shows produced in Canada.

Another distinct possibility, that any of the companies that actually produce Lost (Touchstone Television, Bad Robot Productions and Grass Skirt Productions) may decide to handle things themselves - either allowing add free downloads for a dollar or so, or selling the advertising and doing the marketing/promotion themselves - thus turning ABC into a mirror site.

Now, back to the original point - if they won't (and can't) regulate the internet and the internet becomes inseparable from all other forms of broadcasting - what role is there for the CRTC? None at all really. The CRTC has admitted that it won't (can't) regulate that which they were created to regulate. It would be like Canada Post stating that they no longer have any ability to deliver mail - the only thing left to do would be to pack up the office.

If Canadian content is going to survive, it will largely be up to Canadians. Some subsidies will doubtless still be needed, and Canadian voters and taxpayers will have to support those subsidies - beyond that it will be up to the audience. Canadian artists and content creators will simply have to find an audience in Canada and/or abroad.

Thursday, December 07, 2006

Catching on

First let me thank everyone who's already introduced themselves and those who are about to. I'm glad that everyone is jumping on and excited about this.

Someond posted this today and I thought I'd share. Even though it's a commercial for Dove it's enlightening in one aspect - I don't think the cosmetic companies are catching on, but they are catching on to the fact that others are catching on and think it's best to play along...

The myth of Beauty

Add to My Profile | More Videos

Greetings! ... and not necessarily of the seasonal variety!

I'm thrilled to see such activity happen so quickly after the blogs formation!
My name is Sacha and I'm currently living in Lowville Ontario...
I am a writer... ghost writing ... screenwriting....blog writing...
any ol' kind of writing...
and I'm so excited to contribute to this group....
I will bring more details.... to the table... shortly...
This is my quick Hello!....
Can't wait to read more ... and explore where we're all going....
Until next time.
Coach Oaks

Hi Everyone

Hi Everyone,

I’m honoured and excited to be a part of this group. Everyone has impressive and interesting backgrounds. I look forward to reading upcoming blogs and hope that my contributions can inform, promote thought-provoking discussions and entertain.

A little about me…

I grew up in Hamilton, Ontario, which is one hour southwest of Toronto.

Recently, I completed a public relations program and am now trying to break into the field. I am also an aspiring writer and wrote an article that was published in a company newsletter.

For now, though, I work at a group home that is both rewarding, emotionally and it pays the bills.

I am looking forward to hearing from all of you.

Take care,
Cindy

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Shout it out loud!

Hey, I'd like to thank justin as well and introduce myself as well. I also grew up in smalltown Canada, moved to a few cities throughout Ontario, and have ended up back in the same small town. What is it that John Mellencamp said?

"I was born in a smalltown. Probably die in a smalltown. That's good enough for me."

In this smalltown I live with my wife and 3 wonderful kids in a cramped 3 bedroom apartment. My wife is a massage therapist in the small town of Palmerston Ontario. If you are in the area try Brighid's Well Massage Therapy for all your, uh, muscle pain aleviation needs. Gift certificates available online!

As for me. At this moment I am an unemployed filmmaker. No that sounds wrong to me. I am unemployed and I am also a filmmaker. I'm also diabetic so that's why I was pimping my wifes certificates in the brief paragraph above. I think my indie music and filmaking roots are probably more interesting than my lack of a day job at the moment so I'll let you know a little bit more about those aspects of my existance right now.

For over 13 years I've been attached to Chachi on acid, a punk rock band that was born in 1991. I was 17 at that point and I thought Chachi On Acid was finally put to rest in 2003 after a Halifax show with the intensely entertaining Dean Malenkos. Turns out i was wrong because 17 or 18 brand new songs are being thrown together with drums laid down in Ohio by the drummer of the cult retard rock band Sockeye. This may not seem like much to people who were ignorant of the existance of Sockeye before reading this but it's a pretty fucking triumphant return for us.

But for now we'll pick up at the end of 2003, beginning of 2004. My wife and I picked up a camera and made a short film A traditional canadian Folk Dance which ended up screening in Winnipeg on March 6th 2004 at the NSI Filmexchange Canadian film Festival. Heidi and I were put up in the very beautiful Fort Gary Hotel and we were able to rub elbows with some very cool people such as Barry Dunn, and Mike Volpe. We were also able to see some extremely cool Canadian films such as Graveyard Alive: A Zombie Nurse in Love, Luck starring Sarah Polley, Emile starring Ian McKellen, and On The Corner starring Alex Rice and Katherine Isabelle. In short I was a ble to see a lot of great Canadian cinema that I would not have been able to see otherwise. It's sad to see so little of our own film output represented in theatres here in Canada. All this due to a film we came up with the idea for and shot all in the same day. During a gold old Canadian winter snow day at that.

This experience was such an awakening that we jumped into a gorilla film feature "Breakfast of Imbeciles" which was screened in Berlin in February 2005 and was officially selected to screen at a festival in New York in May of the same year.

A death in the family in December 2005, and my diagnosis with diabetes in January 2006 made last winter somewhat of a bummer but we are back at it and you can find out more at www.duramaterproductions.com or you can even find out how to help support our art here.

That's me for now. Thanks for your time.

Shout Out

Just wanted to give a little shout out . I have been online for a very long time, I hope you enjoy my poetry, writing and art. I also would really like any feedback you want to give on it, good or bad, I can take it. I want to share my art with others and reading /viewing the art of others. This is the best blog site I've come across so far, hats off to Justin.
A little about me, I grew up in a small town but now live in a small city in Canada called Winnipeg. I work at a remedial reception job it's not a career but means of paying the bills and making ends meet for me, my signifiacnt other and my eight year old son. I am a visual artist more so than a writer but I enjoy both so very much. I am all about expanding personal evolution and becoming the most enlightened knowlegeable person you can be through experienceing the world. I have so many artist and writers I enjoy, too many to name here. I look forward to reading what you have to offer also and always return the favor of a comment. May you go in peace and don't forget to chill. DJ Berber aka Amber. Quote: "Develop interset in life as you see it; in people, things, literature, music--the world is so rich, simply throbbing with rich treasures, beautiful souls and intersting people. Forget yourself." HENRY MILLER

Welcome...

Welcome to the fist of the next generation of Publicbroadcasting.ca's group blogs. I had hoped to kick this off by introducing the authors, but everyone is in different stages of readiness and/or different stages of shyness so I'll let them introduce themselves in their own good time.

As to this particular blog, we live in a world consumed by media and popular culture. If you live in a city of any size at all it is all around you, all the time. It moves fast, trends have always come and gone, but now they do so at an alarming rate and if you're only watching television to keep up in 2006, you are missing most of what's going on. What's popular today may not make it until this evening and talent and quality seem to have little or nothing to do with popularity and celebrity anymore.

The men and women who you will hear from on this blog come from across Canada, from a variety of different industries and backgrounds, some work in media, others do not and their ages range from about 18-45 and have been asked to write what they want, when they want - no deadlines, no assignments, virtually no editorial control: So, hopefully they will bring you a good mix of insight and opinion. If you would like to join them and contribute to Hype please let me know.

I'll pipe in once in awhile myself with my own opinions but for now...on with the show.

Cheers,
Justin