Admin Note: the Links Section & More

I've been working on the links section a bit, when I've had the time. I still need to add more links but in the music and comedy sections I've added 'sample' links - these will take you to videos of the person being linked to, so if someone isn't sure who that is or knows who it is and would like to see/hear some right now - it's one click. I'm going to be adding sample links to the film and television links sections as well.

I have also cleared some feeds out of the aggregators (thinks that were apparently no longer operating) and will be adding more feeds to every section in the coming weeks.

Breaking Links: Thursday, December 20

The Loonie has been named Time Magazine's Newsmaker of the Year.

"Time magazine named the loonie the Canadian Newsmaker of 2007, saying the dollar's rapid rise was a sure sign that “something big was happening in Canada."

From the Hollywood Reporter: Where is this talent wave coming from? Oh, Canada

"Look out Hollywood and America, you're being invaded by Canada. Again. Last week, Canadian newspapers were abuzz over the strong showing by Canucks at the Golden Globe nominations. "Juno," directed by Canadian-born Jason Reitman and starring Canadians Ellen Page and Michael Cera, nabbed three nominations, including one for Page. Ryan Gosling has a nom for "Lars and the Real Girl," and thrice-nominated "Eastern Promises" comes from elder Canadian filmmaker David Cronenberg. "Away From Her," which saw Julie Christie nab a nomination, was written and directed by Torontonian Sarah Polley."

Hugh McGuire points to a great article from Wired David Byrne on why CDs aren't music.

"What is music?
First, a definition of terms. What is it we’re talking about here? What exactly is being bought and sold? In the past, music was something you heard and experienced — it was as much a social event as a purely musical one. Before recording technology existed, you could not separate music from its social context. Epic songs and ballads, troubadours, courtly entertainments, church music, shamanic chants, pub sing-alongs, ceremonial music, military music, dance music — it was pretty much all tied to specific social functions. It was communal and often utilitarian. You couldn’t take it home, copy it, sell it as a commodity (except as sheet music, but that’s not music), or even hear it again. Music was an experience, intimately married to your life. You could pay to hear music, but after you did, it was over, gone — a memory."

Ontario has turned over the Ipperwash provincial park to the Chippewas of Kettle and Stony Point First Nation.

"Located about 40 kilometres northeast of Sarnia in southwestern Ontario, Ipperwash Provincial Park has been closed since 1995 when Ontario Provincial Police officers shot and killed aboriginal activist Dudley George during an aboriginal occupation of the park."

Some of Saskatoons top musicians were out yesterday visiting local schools and caroling for Unicef.

"Today, members of The Blood Lines, Junior Pantherz, We Were Lovers, Volcanoless in Canada, Carrie Catherine, Smokekiller, Jen Lane and The Rebellion marched through high schools in Saskatoon singing carols and raised over $500 for UNICEF's "Spread The Net" campaign. "

The Quill and Quire has published the Year in Quilblog.

"All we can do is hope that all you scandal-loving, muckraking, conspiracy-minded booklovers who delight in the misfortune of others have some very happy holidays."

Natalia Yanchak is wondering about the differences between cooking and music as art forms.

"So then why, in cooking, as an artistic form, is it better to be traditional and, dare I say, boring, where as in music, boringness and being labelled as “derivative” promises a fate worse than death?"

Fashionable People Doing Questionable Things

As a fan of Canadian independent music, the only thing better to me than the Bucky Awards is the Polaris prize. The WCMA's and ECMAs are great, but they're regional and the Juno's are, well they're nice too. And I'm not saying all of this just because they gave me one (honorary). So, I'd like to congradulate everyone who was even nominated. If you made the Top 5 in any of these categories it means that Canada loves you. But then the voting starts and someone has to win and this year those people were.

Catchiest Hook - Buck 65 "Indestructable Sam"
Best Sweatin' to the Indies Workout Song - Chromeo "Fancy Footwork"
Best Song Title - The Wet Secrets "Grow Your Own F*cking Moustache Asshole"
Best Falsetto - Joel Plaskett Emergency "Fashionable People"
Best Rap - Abdominal "Pedal Pusher"
Best Lyric - The Weakerthans "Civil Twilight"
Best Reason to Learn French - We Are Wolves "Magique"
Best Gang Vocals - Tokyo Police Club "Your English is Good"
Best New Band Name - Said the Whale
Best Song to Listen to in the Fetal Position - Emily Haines & the Soft Skeleton "Doctor Blind"
Most Unpronounceable Name - Basia Bulat
Best Bass Line - Tokyo Police Club "Your English is Good"
Best Yacht Rock - Patrick Watson "Drifters"
Best Road-Trip Song - Two Hours Traffic "Backseat Sweetheart"
Song Most Likely to be a Future Classic - Feist "1234"

Plus Video Award Winners

Sexiest Canadian Musian: Peter Elkas
Most Likely to Have a Future Career in Television: Shane Nelken From the Awkward Stage
Best Video: Fashionable People - Joel Plasket Emergency

And the brand new "Old But Awesome" (lifetime achievement) award: Bob Wiseman


oh yeah and the Best Fan (or something like that) - Me =) for doing this.

The Radio 3 podcast version of the awards is here and the video awards can be downloaded here. By the way, they contain what is my favorite George Stroumboulopoulos  moment since he joined the CBC.

Don Chevrier: 1938 - 2007

Canadian sportscaster Don Chevrier has passed away.

For many, including myself, Chevrier will be remembered as the original television voice of the Blue Jays. Like his radio counterpart, Tom Cheek, Chevrier provided solid play-by-play for over two decades. He was the man in the television booth during Toronto's "glory days."

As a young fan, I always viewed Chevrier as a wise and articulate elder. He seemed to know every single detail about any baseball player, regardless of whether the player wore a Blue Jay uniform, or an opponent's uniform. His voice was authoritative but not commanding.

He was a versatile broadcaster, covering a number of sports. Along with the Blue Jays, Chevrier was the play-by-play voice for the Ottawa Senators, a number of Grey Cup finals, and many Olympic events. In fact, the last time I had the pleasure of watching and listening to him was during the 2006 Winter Olympics when he covered the men's and women's curling tournament for NBC.

A fixture of the Canadian sporting scene, he described many great moments. He will be sorely missed.

RIP Don Chevrier.

RVT: Gravity Wavelength Volume 1

You can find Gravity Wavelength Act II here and more from Gravity Wave at thegravitywave.com. Appearing in this video are Nils Edenloff, Brendan Hewlett, Paul Banwatt, Amy Cole, Lauren Schreiber, Laura Barrett, Kate Gordon, Jesssica Whyte, Kat 'n' Lorna, Specer Butt, Chris De Castro, and Shazad Chaudhary.

Breaking Links: Thursday, December 18

Via J-Source: Reuters is reporting that 64 Journalists have been killed in the past year.

"For the fifth year in a row Iraq was the deadliest dateline with 31 journalists killed, most of whom were targeted and murdered, the watchdog said. All but one of the journalists killed were Iraqi, with nine of those working for international organizations, including Reuters and The Associated Press."

The East Coast Music Award nominess for 2008 have been announced and Halifax's Joel Plaskett has garnered a whopping 7 nominations.

"The band's 2007 album Ashtray Rock has three nominations, including recording of the year and its single Fashionable People earned nods for best single and songwriter of the year for Plaskett."

Volcanoless in Canada have posted their top music picks for 2007

"Damn I love the end of the year... there's something about snow on the ground, a frozen ice world outside, frost that physically hurts, that makes a guy just want to curl up someplace warm, forget about every single outside obligation, and for the first time all year, take the time to nostalgically make reference to breakthrough/amazing music encompassing another completed year. Team Volcanoless recently experienced some warmth by the fire, partaking in mad discussion about 2007 and the albums that made us want to make another one."

68 year-old John Peters, the latest RCMP taser victim is accusing the agency of a whitewash. In related news a new study has determined that tasers do not reduce shootings.

"Peters's wife Ann, who was in the car at the time, said her husband only put his hands over his face after the officer punched him in the mouth, and that the officer used the Taser twice on her husband while he was still in the car. "John never hit the officer. He was never tased outside the car. He was tased both times inside the car.""

The new album from Gentleman Reg is just about done.

"And it became apparent that all the songs we had recorded, even though they were all good, didn't make up a complete album.So, in the last few months many adjustments have been made. Adding songs, taking some away, re-mixing, editing,,,adding horns....And it's finally feeling finished. This week we go through the mixes and pick our favorites, and then assemble the album.It has a name too. I'll tell you later."

Vive Le Canada on the Tory plan to muzzle Canadian minorities.

"If passed, the proposal would give B.C. seven new MPs, Alberta five and Ontario only 10 – fully 11 fewer than if the province was treated the same as Canada's other fast-growing regions. This means effectively disenfranchising some 1 million Ontarians in the next decade, or approximately one in every 10 citizens of voting age."

MTV is referring to 2007 as The Year The [music] Industry Broke.

"In April, Trent Reznor released Year Zero, a concept album about a future society teetering on the brink of apocalypse. It was supposed to be a grand work of fiction, but it could just as easily have been about the music industry in 2007 — a bleak, burned-out world where the sky fell on a daily basis and the rivers ran red with the blood of record execs. (That the album didn't sell well only furthers the analogy ...)"

Police are looking for a man who murder a 74 year old while he was delivering Christmas cards in Kitchener Ontario and in Winnipeg they are looking for a man who abducted and assaulted an 11 year old girl. On the off chance you might know something please read the suspect descriptions in the articles.

Your Xmas Present from Said The Whale

Said the Whale is offering up a 2 song EP as their Xmas gift to you. Check their website for details http://www.saidthewhale.com/.

Nominations Open for Canadian Blog Awards

Nominations are now open for the 2007 Canadian Blog Awards If you have a favourite blog that you would like to honor visit http://cdnba.wordpress.com/ to nominate them in the following categories.

Best Activities Blog
Best Blog
Best Blog Post
Best Blog Post Series
Best Blogosphere Citizen
Best Business/Finance Blog
Best conservative Blog
Best Education Blog
Best Entertainment/Cultural Blog
Best Family Blog
Best French-Language Blog
Best Group Blog
Best Humour Blog
Best Local Blog
Best Media/Celebrity Blog
Best Military Blog
Best New Blog
Best Non-Partisan Blog
Best Personal Blog
Best Photo/Art Blog
Best Podcaster/Vlogger
Best Political Blog
Best progressive Blog
Best Religious Blog
Best Sci/Tech Blog
Best Sexual/Gender Issues Blog
Best Sports Blog

Toronto Steps Up for the Parkdale Food Bank

Yesterday was a great day in West Toronto. The snow dump and the problems that came with it make it even more impressive that the Music Marathon Fundraiser for the Parkdale Foodbank came off without a hitch. Of the 10 scheduled bands only one had to cancel and the Cadillac Lounge was full all day. Most people didn't come and stay for the full event but for every departure there was an arrival and in all $800 plus was raised for the food bank.

So, huge thanks are in order to all of yesterdays performers and to every single person who looked at the snow piling up yesterday and then came out anyway.

I have no heard how last night's other event (Monkey Toast: PWYC. Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen St.) fared but in all I would say, to date, the effort to raise funds for and awareness of the problems facing the Parkdale Food Bank has been a resounding success. A third fundraiser (Sing For Your Supper: Dec. 22., 8:30 p.m. $12 or $10 with food donation. Hugh's Room, 2261 Dundas St. W. 416-531-6604) has already been scheduled and apparently there are more in the planning stages. The Hugh's room fundraiser is still looking for performers.

For all of the negative things said about Toronto, people here have shown once again that when it matters they will step up (bad weather or not). It would appear, after discussions yesterday, that I'll be doing some work with the food bank going forward so stay tuned for further updates.

Anyone who has not made it to a fundraiser but would still like to donate can send a cheque to St. Francis Table / St. Clare Centre, 1322 Queen Street West, Toronto, Ontario M6K 1L4 make sure you mention in the 'memo' line of the cheque that it's for the Parkdale Food Bank.

New Laura Barrett EP "Ursula"

Laura Barrett of the Hidden Cameras and the Adorables has released her second solo EP "Ursula." According to Laura's Blog it

is available (so far) at Soundscapes in Toronto, as well as through Ta Da! itself (they are distributed through Revolver in the States, but I'm not up there quite yet).

Sadly Ta Da! doesn't seem to have a website so for now it's Soundscapes but I'm sure it will be available elsewhere shortly.

Here is the video for "Robot Ponies"

RVT: Basia Bulat - Snakes and Laders

Recorded live at the Ottawa Bluesfest, July 12 2007. CBC Radio 3 and the blog It's not the Band I Hate, It's Their Fans have strongly positive write ups on Basia's in store performance at Criminal Records on Queen St. West in Toronto.

Stay tuned because "The concert was recorded by CBC recording guru Ron Skinner and once it's mixed, you'll get to enjoy it right here on the site. Meantime, here are some pictures from the event."

If the Magazine Only Has A Canadian Price - Don't Buy It

You are probably being ripped off. Just sayin (via CBC)

Instead of dropping its Canadian prices, a U.S. magazine publisher has quietly removed the American price for its magazines — leaving only the Canadian price on the cover.

Breaking Links: Friday, December 14

The Winnipeg Police have some serious splaining to do. From Inside the CBC the Canadian Association of Journalists has filed a complaint over the inexplicable arrest of a CBC cameraman yesterday.

"The CBC says Scott did not film any undercover officers or cross police lines as he filmed the incident. He agreed to a police request to step further away from the incident but refused to stop filming, according to the CBC."

VoCA has a great post on "the search for the authentic in contemporary art.

"Art has become trendy among the young and upwardly mobile, creating a demand for edgy, flashy yet not-too-difficult work. As if to answer this demand, art schools are churning out thousands of young painters and installation artists annually, each of whom fully expects to make a successful career from art making. Mega collectors like Charles Saatchi in the UK, Martin Margulies and the Rubells in the US have become media stars with their own galleries filled with artists whose work they collect, complete with catalogues and full time staff."

The Quill and Quire blog has a rundown on the, very sad, battle over the Toronto Small Press Book Fair.

"A few weeks after the most recent Toronto Small Press Book Fair, a public battle is raging between fair organizers and disgruntled constituents – mostly in the arena of Facebook."

Ivor Tossell at the Globe and Mail has a look at 'How Copyright Became Cool'. We can only hope the people leading ACTRA will read this and be a little more aware of the situation before they belittle and insult the Canadian film, theatre and television audience again.

"When did copyright law become sexy? Jim Prentice must be wondering. This week, Canada's freshly shuffled Industry Minister was set to table new copyright legislation that could have completely changed the relationship between Canadians and their digital media. But then he backed down, at least until the end of the year."

Parkdale Pictures sings the praises of Rolling Stone's 'best songs of 2007'.

"Rolling Stone should have called its best songs of 2007 "a list of 100 songs you heard of" since it is bereft of both logic and taste. "

Homeless Nation is asking for help to save a forest.

"For those who do not know already, there is a culturally significant area of forest in Langford that is slated to be destroyed by the new development of a proposed cloverleaf-style freeway interchange. Previously entitled the "Bear Mountain Interchange," it is currently known as the Spencer Road Interchange. Currently, the area is being protected by activists who are occupying several trees and a sacred cave in the path of the proposed interchange."

Kelowna police have tasered a 68-year-old man (twice) as he sat in his car but they're sorry. Meanwhile the RCMP thinks their officers may be getting carried away.

"The RCMP's watchdog is calling for the force to restrict its use of stun guns, saying the weapons are increasingly employed to subdue those who are resistant rather than those who pose a threat."

And Vive Le Canada brings word that Acidic seas may kill 98% of world's reefs by 2050

"The majority of the world's coral reefs are in danger of being killed off by rising levels of greenhouse gases, scientists warned yesterday. Researchers from Britain, the US and Australia, working with teams from the UN and the World Bank, voiced their concerns after a study revealed 98% of the world's reef habitats are likely to become too acidic for corals to grow by 2050."

Via CanCult "Our School Libraries are Starting to Die" Chapters/Indigo has a short doc and call to action on the subject.

"Writing on the Wall explores the literacy crisis unfolding in Canada's classrooms. Complete with shocking statistics of children's literacy skills and the impact on their future, and Canada's, this groundbreaking film follows two high-needs elementary schools as they prepare their submission for an Indigo Love of Reading Foundation grant to rebuild their dying libraries."

Harper's Nuclear Gamble

Obviously when word of the Chalk River shutdown, and the resulting shortage of isotopes for Cancer tests was announced on December 5 everyone was concerned. Cancer has become a worldwide epidemic and the thought of people dying because their cancer wasn't diagnosed was unacceptable.

But when we talk about "unacceptable" nothing comes much higher on the list than a nuclear accident and if it were to occur it would no longer really be an accident, it would be someone's falt. The chair of Atomic Energy of Canada, Michael Burns, resigned today over the restarting of the plant, possibly to ensure that it won't be his fault.

"The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission had advised against restarting operations until a raft of maintenance work was complete, and declared that the plant was in violation of its license. The necessary upgrades were only half complete, the nuclear safety watchdog said."

By overriding the concerns of those in charge of nuclear safety Harper has scored a few points, possibly, with those concerned about cancer. By dismissing the concerns of the regulator though Harper takes full responsibility for the outcome - should anything go wrong at chalk river, cancer rates in Ontario and Quebec will surely go through the roof - and that would be the least of our concerns.

Harper has rolled the dice with a nuclear plant that Canada's nuclear regulator found to be unsafe. As much as I would like to see Harper out of office and his party in ruins - if you have anyone that you regularly pray to, pray that he is right on this one.

Free downloads from Republic of Safety

To me, one of the most impressive people in Canada (especially in the indie scene) is writer, award winning playwright, illustrator, political activist, former NDP candidate and musician Maggie MacDonald. You simply have to admire anyone who can seemingly do everything and do it well. As a musician - in addition to her work with the Hidden Cameras she is, along with Marlena Kaesler (bass/voice), Jonny Dovercourt (guitar/voice), Steve Sidoli (drums), and Martin Eckart (saxophone) Republic of Safety.

It is with no small amount of pleasure that I announce that Republic of Safety now has four songs in Podsafe Download section of the site.

Free Downloads from Rock Plaza Central

Few bands in the last year have generated as much buzz in Canada as Rock Plaza Central from Pitchfork to the
Globe and Mail, From Rolling Stone to CBC Radio 3 they've kinda been everywhere. But, in case you haven't heard them, or haven't heard them enough there are a few songs in the podsafe download area that you can have for free.

As a special bonus here is a video someone mixed with Justin Timberlake's "SexyBack" with the Rock Plaza Central cover instead of the rather lame original music.

RVT: Captain Tractor - "The Last Saskatchewan Pirate"

Captain Tractor cover of an Arrogant Worms song.

Breaking Links: Thursday, December 13

Sam Roberts wants you to sign a petition supporting Al Gore.

"Tomorrow Al Gore is going to address the UN Climate Change Conference in Bali, Indonesia. At his urging, I've signed an important petition showing I support his important call for a visionary treaty to address the climate crisis. I hope you will too."

According to the CBC no matter what people tell you, in music, the album still reigns supreme.

"Modern music may, indeed, be irreversibly fragmented. Comprising both downloads and chain record stores, the business of selling music is a tangled, sprawling mess. Despite a growing sense — both real and imagined — that online, single-song sales rule, the album is in no jeopardy of disappearing. Talk to musicians and avid listeners and you’ll see that albums still matter. Regardless of how it’s delivered, the album, that unified assembly of songs, is still the most powerful (and effective) medium musicians have."

A CBC cameraman has been arrested for attempting to film Winnepeg Police according to

"“By all accounts, the CBC staff that were involved in this were acting completely appropriately,” he said.
“They were on public property, in essence a street, shooting an event that was public activity. They were doing nothing, that I can see, that was improper or illegal.”"

Bookninja wants your vote on the Story of the year.

"Send me your vote for top lit-story of the year, either as reported on Bookninja or as missed by Bookninja. Was it something skeezy, controversial or stupid like the OJ/the Goldmans/Judith Regan money grab? The dumbening of The Golden Compass? The Martin Amis/Ronan Bennett racism dustup? The rise of the blog? Stephen King winning literary awards? Canada Customs screwing Little Sister? Stephen Henighan pointing the shaky finger of conspiracy at the Canlit family? The Google/digitization arguments? The kindling of The Kindle? The exposing of the misblurb? The end of US reading according to the NEA? Brown writers being mistaken for terrorists? The death of the books pages? Rankin vs the lesbians? etc etc etc?"

Help Mix the Blood Lines New Album

The Blood Lines are, without a doubt, one of the smartest bands out there. In keeping with the philosophy of their Facebook group "the Blood Lines Love Me" they would now like your help in making their new album.

No, they don't want you to play an instrument, and they don't need backup singers, but they will be posting a new song every Wednesday on their Myspace and they want your input and feedback before they go back into the studio to finish the album.

We're planning on recording the real album early in the new year and we're looking for help choosing which songs will make the grade and which will be dragged into the recycle bin never to be mentioned again.

So, every Wednesday we'll be choosing a new recording - nearly finished, partially finished or completely raw - for your ears only, and I suppose for anyone who has access to the internet.

The message from the band is and has been pretty loud, clear and consistent. You may not be on stage (or on tour) with them, but this is your band and you have a say in what directions they take.

A few other notes. SJ Kardash has an interview in the VueWeekly about last summer's trip to the Beijing pop festival and their upcoming visit to Edmonton.

They will be playing in

Edmonton's Velvet Underground (right under The Starlite) on December 14

December 15 at The Marquee Room in Calgary.

On December 21 they will be in Moose Jaw at the Mae Wilson Theatre

and of course they are playing at Amigos in Saskatoon with Volcanoless in Canada on New Year's eve. Oh and one more gig in the near future: According to Maygen, she and S.J. are organizing a UNICEF fundraiser that will see local artists carol the halls of Saskatoon's high schools on Wednesday the 19th ... that would be an all ages show.

ACTRA Sides Against the Audience

ACTRA supports Jim Prentices anti-consumer copyright legislation and is angry over it's delay. As a long frequent supporter of Canadian film, television and theatre I can't help but feel that they ACTRA (who I don't believe speaks for all Canadian actors) is being short sighted and reactionary in this case. Hopefully their stance won't weaken public support for the Canadian industry.

"ACTRA called the protestors a vocal minority and said that further inaction by the government to reform the copyright laws will cause reduced investment and innovation, plus job losses in Canada's "already struggling industry.""

Fortunately the Canadian Music Creators Coalition which includes, amoung many others, the Barenaked Ladies, Sarah McLachlan, the Stars, Avril Lavigne, Feist, Sam Roberts, Sloan, Broken Social Scene, Alexisonfire, Billy Talent, Bob Wiseman, Sum 41, the New Pornographers, Chantal Kreviazuk, Matthew Good, Metric, Randy Bachman, Volcanoless in Canada and many, many others is still on the side of fans and of artists who want to control their own future.

Until now, a group of multinational record labels has done most of the talking about what Canadian artists need out of copyright. Record companies and music publishers are not our enemies, but let's be clear: lobbyists for major labels are looking out for their shareholders, and seldom speak for Canadian artists. Legislative proposals that would facilitate lawsuits against our fans or increase the labels' control over the enjoyment of music are made not in our names, but on behalf of the labels' foreign parent companies.

By the way, if you're a musician and would like to add yourself or your band to the CMCC's list just send them an email.