CanCulture

Episode 56 of This Is Toronto is now available!

This latest episode features CanCulture, a new online magazine that celebrates Canadian art and culture.

www.thisistorontopodcast.blogs​pot.com

NEXT EPISODE: July 29, 2011

New Toronto-themed Podcast Debuts June 5th

Toronto's arts and culture community has a new voice: This Is Toronto, an audio podcast that shines a spotlight on the people, places and events that give life to this great city. This Is Toronto will not focus on the "big-ticket" names and occasions. Instead, the program will feature items that enrich Toronto’s cultural atmosphere.

This Is Toronto will premiere on Friday, June 5, 2009. Episodes will be available off the program's website: www.thisistorontopodcast.blogspot.com. New episodes are published on Fridays, once every two weeks. All episodes will be about 10-12 minutes in length.

This Is Toronto is hosted and produced by Eric Rosenhek. Eric is a freelance journalist and has written for several publications. He's also a former host and producer with CKCU 93.1 FM in Ottawa. An avid podcaster, Eric has produced two other podcasts: The Audio Circus (2006-2008) and FutuRéale Radio (2008-2009).

CD Review: Metric - Fantasies

The press release for Metric's new album, Fantasies, stated that the title was intended to evoke a dream-inspired feeling. The suggested feeling does occur as the material seems to be motivated by subconscious thoughts. Listening to Fantasies in one sitting is very similar to an actual dream. The album's tone and emotion changes frequently, even in the middle of a song. It also depicts the feeling of waking up. For example, the album's fourth track, "Twilight Galaxy," is very calming and encourages one to fall into a trance. This is followed by "Gold Guns Girls," which is the literal equivalent to a noisy alarm clock.

But in all honesty, there's nothing really special about Fantasies. This is not meant to be a slight against Metric. The new album is enjoyable and the band upholds their acclaimed style. The music is original and doesn't conform to any commercial conventions. However, Fantasies does not break any new ground. It's a typical indie-rock album; something that we have come to expect from a band like Metric.

"Help I'm Alive," the leadoff track, was the first single released from the album. It's a good choice as the song describes the feeling the band was going for. There are various moods and the vocals by lead singer Emily Haines registers on several fronts. There's also the delightful fuse of hard rock and New Wave. However, "Help I'm Alive" doesn't come close to the powerful and attention-grabbing "Monster Hospital" from 2005's Live It Out album.

Fantasies will have its success. There will certainly be praise for it. But expecting the album to be monumentally noteworthy is outlandish. It's a great album, but not one that will revolutionize the Canadian indie-rock scene. Expectations should be set a respectful level; neither high nor low.

For more information on Metric, please visit www.ilovemetric.com.

Movie Debate - An Open Thread

Since we're on the subject of CanCon movies at the moment, here's hoping you'll forgive a bit of nosiness by way of this question:

What's your current Favourite Canadian Movie? Any particular reason(s)? Got more than one?

CD Review: Peter Project - The Peter Project LP

Peter Project's self titled album is a fascinating experience. It is also an album that will have its supporters and opponents.

This recent release by the Toronto-based DJ features electronic sounds with a hip-hop influence. Peter Project himself refers to it as "electro 60s a go-go." The album has many creative mixes, as well as a broad range of samples from obscure films, television shows and children's recordings. The artist, who's also known as Peter Chapman (The Midways), has certainly created a unique fuse of music and technology.

Those who love the album will celebrate Peter Project's ability to take random sounds and turn them into tracks that blend together flawlessly. They will enjoy the movement-inducing songs, which follow in the footsteps of DJ Shadow and Kid Koala.

Those who dislike the album will point to its lack of musical originality. They will describe Peter Project as someone who simply takes the work of musicians and uses an industrial-inspired machine to create new variations. These people might even go as far as to define each track as an exhibition of sound, rather than an actual song.

In all fairness, the album does have original aspects. This comes in the form of rhymes by hip-hop artists More or Les, The World Burglar, Masia One and Zaki Ibrahim; all of whom make guest appearances on the album.

Out of all the tracks, the strongest one is called "Two Cups." It has a pleasant blend of beats and synthesized notes, as well as a hypnotic Sesame Street-esque vocal track that is repeated over and over.

An artist like Peter Project will always stir debate. However, any argument has no relation to the actual presentation. The Peter Project LP is energetic and full of ingenuity.

For more information on Peter Project, please visit www.myspace.com/peterproject

CD Review: The Bicycles - Oh No, It's Love

Since it was announced recently that The Bicycles are on hiatus, it's only fair to take a look at their recent album. That way, we'll realize just how much we're going to miss this enjoyable indie group from Toronto.

Oh No, It's Love (2008) is the follow-up to 2006's The Good, The Bad and The Cuddly. There is a sense of pretension at first glance. The cover of Oh No, It's Love has an abstract contemporary art design, while the back features all four members posing with their indie inspired "B" t-shirts. Of course, one can't judge a CD by its cover. But there is the early assumption that the album will feature material that is too creative and snobbish. Fortunately, that is not the case.

Oh No, It's Love is a delightful collection of 19 energetic songs. Each track has a lively tempo and is bound to pick up your spirits, even if some of the lyrics are about heartbreak. The Bicycles are like The Ramones, but more musically educated. The majority of tracks are short and don't drag on. There are also no pauses between the tracks, which allows the positive energy to keep flowing. The overall presentation is fast-paced without any disruptions.

Oh No, It's Love also shows The Bicycles' versatility. The band incorporates an eclectic amount of instruments into their music. There is also a large contingent of musicians and artists who accompany The Bicycles on this album, including Laura Barrett and Peter Chapman (Peter Project). With so much backing from Toronto's indie community, perhaps The Bicycles are more of a collective than a band.

It's too bad the members of this band are taking a break to pursue other projects. But there is the possibility that they will reunite sometime in the future. However, if Oh No, It's Love turns out to be The Bicycles' final album, then we can all take solace in the fact that the band went out with a bang.


For more information on The Bicycles, please visit www.thebicycles.ca.

CD Review: APlotAgainstMe - Deuce

It's ironic that Ottawa's APlotAgainstMe has christened their new album Deuce, as it perfectly describes what to expect: an album with two distinctive appearances.

Deuce is an independent release by the hard rock group and features ten tracks which are dark and intense, and are reminiscent of material produced by Tool, Marilyn Manson and Metallica. What makes the album intriguing is that APAM has literally cut the album into two halves.

The first half has songs that are musically strong, but are also very soft. The vocals are gentle and there's no screaming. There's also no anger or raw emotion. Clearly, the intention of the first part of Deuce was to provide tracks that are safe for commercial radio. In doing so, this barely satisfies passionate hard rock fans, and doesn't insult nor deter causal fans and those who are curious about this particular style of music. You can tell there's potential, but you'll find yourself waiting for an explosion that appears unlikely to happen.

It's not until the second half of Deuce that APAM's true talent starts to show. The intensity and distortion increases. The anger and subsequent raw emotion appears and grows. There's a strong, threatening sense of aggression. Finally, the aforementioned explosion occurs with the eighth track, "The Nurse," which is by far the best song on the album.

Overall, Deuce certainly wets the appetite. The entire album shows the band's craftsmanship, which was aided by Record Producers Shawn Bradley, David Botrill and Vic Florencia. Along with "The Nurse," another notable track is "The Murder Between Us," which in a weird way, sounds like the opening to a James Bond film.

It will be interesting to see where APlotAgainstMe will go from here. Deuce has shown that the band has two different sides: one that produces toned down material for radio airplay, and one that truly expresses their hard rock roots. It's important for the group to decide which side they want to be on, or at least create a compromise between the two. Otherwise, an identity crisis will take the energy away from this talented band.


For more information on APlotAgainstMe, please visit www.aplotagainstme.com.

Some rambling on space exploration

Something else to thank Doug Drexler's blogging in recent weeks for here.

By way of introduction: Drexler's been an award-winning makeup artist, scenic artist and now CGI designer/animator - please forgive me for not getting the titles precisely, Doug? - on shows from Star Trek: All the Modern TV Series from Next Generation to Enterprise through to the current edition of Battlestar Galactica and, soon enough, Caprica as well if I remember a'right.

(Galactica, to my mind constitutes one of those happy accidents of "hands across the border" work. But I digress...)

Anyway, he got this note from Mike Okuda passing along excerpts from a speech from Jeff Hanley, manager of Project Constellation at NASA. And that thread on the Drex Files that followed from that posting, along with a linkage to a JFK speech of no small note and import, got me thinking about space exploration. What it means to me personally. What it means to people in a lot of different places.

Including Canada.

We don't idolize our men and women of the Right Stuff up here as has been done south of the border. At least not yet. I'd love to see a docudrama on Marc Garneau and/or Roberta Bondar one of these years, and see it well done. No idea if it's ever going to happen, given the state of our industry, although I'm sure the likes of Denis McGrath, Alex Epstein, Will Dixon, and others across the membership of the Writers Guild of Canada would jump at the chance to script that sucker were it offered to any of them.

Those stories, when they get told - are another kind of economic spinoff of the exploration that NASA - and our own Canadian Space Agency, as well - are doing. They force the people who work in the cultural industries to try to achieve things that so rarely get done in the real world as it is today.

More to the point...this exploration is worth doing, and worth doing to the best of our respective abilities is beyond doubt for this Canadian. What frustrates me - as I suspect it does many people elsewhere in more than a few nations - is that so many still have the doubts.

In my less charitable moments, I tend to call them another word: fears. Fear of change, and the consequences that it brings.

Given the state of the planetary economy right now, I can see how a lot of us can - do - rationalize the fears. Justify them. Use them to argue for an end to change. Or at least for a slowing down of it to a pace they can more easily match. I've been catching myself preparing similar arguments about some of the things now in place in my current day-job.

No, I won't be sharing the details of that particular issue. They don't really matter all that much, and they add little more than another chunk of noise at a time when we really need more and clearer signal.

We need to do more of that trailblazing that Hanley spoke of, and Kennedy before him, and Roddenberry and his colleagues and heirs in between and since. We need to do this both in concert with our neighbours near and far across this world, and we need to do it on our own as well.

This exploration can and must be done alongside everything else we need to do right now to remedy our economic and ecological woes...and maybe a few of our cultural woes as well.

Canadian Content Can Be Supported But Can't Be Protected Anymore

The internet age is here. That means that despite the wishes of Sirius and others that we can no longer protect Can Con on the airwaves. That does not mean that it cannot be subsidized. It can and should get subsidies. In addition to arguing for increased government subsidies I've come up with a number of ways this can be done even a way to pay for free content online. But building a national firewall and deciding whether or not people can look at something on the internet based on it's 'Canadianness'. Just won't work. Even to try we would have to give up a great deal of freedom and choice and in a great many cases people would find a way around it anyway. Billions of dollars that could be spend on arts subsidies (as well as environmental programs, anti-povery programs, etc) would be spend, largely without benefit.

For 400 years French Canada has managed to build, maintain and support it's own culture in the middle of a sea of English. Now it is time for English culture to do the same. If there is anything worth protecting in English Canadian culture then it is up to us to support it and insure that it lasts.

This means several things. I means that the CBC needs to be supported. Right now, out of 18 industrialized countries Canada ranks 15th in terms of it's financial support for it's public broadcaster. In exchange for this funding though the CBC needs to strengthen it's support for Canada. This means more Canadian programs, more local programs, and more coverage of Canadian arts and culture in the CBC's arts programming. It also means the CBC needs to give up some of it's advertising. Next we need more arts subsidies. The troglodytes who complain about taxpayer funding for the arts are working on stereotypes. They see the arts the way Harper does - a bunch of slackers sitting around coffee shops until it's time for their black tie gala in the evening. The reality is that artists work harder for their money and make less for their efforts than almost any other profession in this country. At the same time the arts contribute a tremendous amount to the economy even when the economy is bad. In this country provincial and federal governments spend a great deal of money subsidizing business. Conservatives need to learn that the arts are a business and (aside from the quite obvious other benefits) subsidizing small artists is like subsidizing other small business and it creates jobs and other economic activity.

Ultimately though it's up to you. No subsidies or special protections for Canadian artists and Canadian content will do any good if the Canadian public does not support it. If you don't listen to Canadian bands, watch Canadian TV, watch Canadian Film it won't survive. If Canada is going to be more than the 51st State, America Lite, etc., it is up to individual Canadians to protect the culture.

Can Con as Endangered Species

So the TV people are all a twitter about the CRTC's proposals to revamp Canadian TV.

"In a move that would reshape prime time television, the federal broadcast regulator is considering placing a cap on how much the country's biggest TV networks can spend to acquire hit U.S. shows, such as Grey's Anatomy, The Office and House.

The proposal, which came as a shock to network executives yesterday, would require CTV, Global, CITY-TV and others to spend the same amount on Canadian programming as they do on U.S. shows. For every $1 spent on programs from outside the country, a dollar would have to be spent at home creating a domestic show."

It's a good idea, because Canadian television needs more exposure and because this is really the last chance. The days when the CRTC can do anything to protect Canadian content are rapidly drawing to a close. Broadcast networks are continuing to lose viewers to cable:

The financial decline of Canada's major commercial television networks accelerated last year, with profits falling more than 90 per cent amid the onset of a slowing economy and the migration of TV audiences and revenue to cable channels.

The national conventional TV networks, including CTV, Global, CITY-TV, and French broadcasters such as TVA, saw their biggest-ever drop on a percentage basis in profits before income tax. Those profits, which are reported each spring by the federal broadcast regulator, fell to $8.04-million from $112.94-million last year.

It should be noted that that's just cable. It doesn't take into account what happens when the media convergence is complete and broadcasters are competing directly with everything on the internet for viewers. Once that happens protecting Candadian Content (except on the CBC) will simply not be possible. In order to compete globally against everything people will have to do whatever works best for them financially. The broadcast audience will simply not be significant enough to continue broadcasting over the air in the traditional sense. Of course the networks, or what is left of them, will also have to supply almost 100% of their own content, so the proposed CRTC regulation will be good for broadcasters in the long run. (I get the sense that most of them would create none of their own content if they could help it.)

The point here though is not about broadcasters or the CRTC. The primary reason I created publicbroadcasting.ca back in 2005 (and all of the facebook groups, Myspace pages etc) was to hilight the good things going on in Canadian arts and culture. Once the CRTC packs up the Can-Con requirements (probably less than 10 years) the only way that Can Con will survive is with broad public support. If, at that point, there isn't a sufficient audience in Canada or Canadian television, film, music, literature, and art it will simply go away. Canadians who want to work in film and television will go to Los Angeles, Canadians who want to be successful in music will go to New York or London. That means that Canada will cease to exist in media. Canada will not be the setting for films (even if they are shot here), Toronto stories will be rewritten as New York stories, and we'll have to catch Canadian artists as they come through on tour.

There will still be the CBC (if the Conservatives don't kill it) which will have some Canadian content in exchange for their large subsidy but that will be all, or very nearly. So when I watch the Hour and see Tom Cruise or Lily Allen instead of Canadian actors and musicians, or I watch the Scene and see no Canadian arts news at all (there is frequently none unless of the Maple Syrup - Canadian makes it in the States variety) or I visit cbc.ca/arts and see maybe 2-3 Canadian stories out of 10 I take it as a defeat for Canadian Artists and the future of Can Con. On the other hand when it's Feist on the hour, or Ed Broadbent or Rick Mercer or when I listen to the all Canadian all the time Radio 3 I take it as a victory.

Pierre Trudeau famously said of the United States "Living next to you is in some ways like sleeping with an elephant. No matter how friendly and even-tempered is the beast, if I can call it that, one is affected by every twitch and grunt." I question whether Canada, if it ceases to exist in the media, if it's stories aren't told, if it's artists all go south, if it is never the setting for any story - how long will it really exist at all? How long will it take for the elephant to roll over and smother us completely?

Canada's Chief Television Regulator Doesn't Like Television?

Denis McGrath who writes TV and about TV is concerned. Apparently he doesn't think that it's a good sign that the Michel Arpin, Vice Chair for Broadcasting of the Canadian Radio and Telecommunications Commision (Head TV guy at the CRTC) doesn't like television.

"Arpin: I'm a news and documentary consumer. I'm not that interested in televised fiction or even feature films. I would prefer to read a novel.

It doesn't really mean that he doesn't like television. I'm a bit of a news junkie myself and read far more than I watch TV, but then I'm not the chief regulator of television in this country.

There is some talk at Complications Ensue: The Crafty TV and Screenwriting Blog about going all Yan Martel on his ass - sending him entire series of Canadian programs on DVD. I have doubts though that if he would watch them if he doesn't like television (just like I suspect that Mr. Harper hasn't read any of the books sent to him).

I don't think that this job requires that Mr. Arpin be an advocate. However there are few enough original Canadian series produced that he should at least not dislike television. If only he'd said "I don't like reality television" then we'd be in business.

The CRTC Refuses To Do It's Job

The CRTC ruled today that Bell can continue to control how you use the internet. This is in keeping with the CRTC philosophy of the last several years which generally boils down to 'screw consumers'. The CRTC has regularly failed Canadian consumers and allowed heavily publicly subsidized companies such as Bell, Rogers and Shaw to do as they please with little or no regulation or oversight and no obligation to give anything back to the consumers who subsidize their existence.

They have failed to control media consolidation, they failed to take any action when cable providers refused their legal obligations to the Canadian Television Fund, they refused to force cable providers to pay the same carriage fees to Canadian networks that they pay to US networks. In short the CRTC has failed to do the job it was created to do - namely to protect Canadian consumers and Canadian media.

The only real way, that I can see, to force the CRTC to do it's job is to put in place federal laws to more strictly regulate broadcasters, cable companies and phone companies. These should include:

Net Neutrality legislation

Greatly strengthened public service requirements

Increased restrictions on ownership/consolidation

Funds for cities to set up municipal wi-fi systems

Increased fees for licenses, including carriage fees and contributions to the Canadian Television Fund and the New Media Fund

There are obviously more, but that would be a good start. Until some action is taken by the government or the CRTC I don't believe that there is any reason for Canadians to show any respect to the CRTC, cable companies or ISP or to show any respect for their rules or regulations. Canada's broadcast systems - including the airwaves, and the infrastructure (the pipes) that these companies use belong to Canadians. The CRTC, contrary to it's mandate, wants to take them away and give them away to private companies - until we get them back these private companies and the CRTC should be seen as thieves and enemies of Canada and treated with no more respect than that.

Reminder Young People Fucking and Pillow Talk on Saturday

Saturday, at 5 pm, at the Scotiabank Theater (259 Richmond St. West) in Toronto the First Weekend Club will present, following a screening of Young People Fucking "Pillow Talk":

"The Pillow Talk event will be a public discussion and panel about the movie, the impending Bill C-10 and the social implications it imposes should it be passed.  Speak your mind.  What do you think about Bill C-10 or the "Bill of Censorship"?  What happens if we allow our art, any art, to be censored by the government?
 
Hear what our panel has to say about Young People Fucking and their take on the Bill.  Ask them questions, argue your point of view, cheer, boo, clap.  Get engaged. 
 
Our Panelists are:  Martin Gero (YPF director), Aaron Abrams (YPF co-writer/producer/star), Brad Pelman (YPF distributor), Richard Crouse (moderator), with additional guests to join panel."

Stephen Colbert Licenses The Hockey Theme

A number of GM workers were laid off in Oshawa. Our Canadian soldiers are risking their lives in Afghanistan. Gas prices are still rising.

Yet, all we seem to care about is the hockey theme; a 60-second jingle that opened up hockey broadcasts.

Seriously, what's wrong with all of us?

I agree with Justin, Dwight and Adrian. I am happy Ms. Claman can finally have some closure. However, I still think CTV is full of crap. They don't care about Ms. Claman or the "legacy" of the hockey theme. All they care about is the millions they're going to make off the jingle.

You know what we all need? Stephen Colbert:

CBC, Money, Labour and Marketplace in Jeopardy?

A bunch of stuff in InsidetheCBC.com today.

First (and second really) CBC President Herbert Lacroix was pretty busy last week. First at the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television last Thursday Lacroix reiterated that the CBC requires an extra 215 million dollars in order to maintain quality programming. This amount was suggested by the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage back in February.

On Sunday Lacroix also became the first CBC President ever to speak at the bi-annual convention of the Canadian Media Guild (CMG), the union that represents the vast majority of the CBC's employees.

"Lacroix said poor communication between the senior executives and guild representatives underscored an urgent need to rebuild a proper relationship. Lacroix’s said his mission since he joined the CBC 18 months ago has been to build a greater level of respect and transparency at every level of the organization.
Lacroix called for a “paradigm shift” (yes, he actually said “paradigm shift”) in thinking to incorporate more pride and positivity. He added that he knew the job was hard because the same executives are in the same place as they were during the 2005 lockout. He also highlighted that each member of his senior management team had been fully briefed on the importance of the CBC/CMG relationship, and “failure is not an option” to them."

This is good news for the CBC across the board. With nothing having changed substantially since 2005 and a constant need for cash at the CBC I would have called a 2009 work stoppage likely just a few days ago. (I actually still think it's likely, but wish Mr. LaCroix all the luck in the world.) With public support somewhat weaker than it was in 2005 a work stoppage next year could be disastrous.
Finally it appears that Marketplace is going on a bit of a hiatus. It appears that the program is being replaced in it's 7:30 pm Wednesday time slot by the American game show Jeopardy. The show will resume in January 2009, replacing Royal Canadian Air Farce in its Friday evening time slot. It should also be pointed out that that same Heritage Committee Report Mr. Lacroix referenced on Thursday also recommended "That CBC Television's prime time (M-F 7-11 pm) be exclusively Canadian" and "That the CBC Reduce it's relative dependency on advertising revenues for television programs". From InsidetheCBC.com:

"Marketplace is the only adult show on CBC to not run ads, a commitment the show has kept since it started 36 seasons ago. This is in keeping with the shows spotlight on consumer affairs."

Johnny Cash Money Machines?

Okay......be honest.

This was a joke, right?



This clip is part of two YouTube channels that features a wide assortment of television clips from the 1980's; the majority of which were prominent on television screens across Southern Ontario.

To view the channels (put together by the same user), head to www.youtube.com/Retrontario and www.youtube.com/WNED17

Belated Self-Introduction

I finally agreed to start contributing to the house weblog of publicbroadcasting.ca this past month. It was something that I'd put off for several years for reasons I won't get into here, but most of them were simply matters of time management on my part. In the process, I ended up simply posting my earlier rant on rogue car drivers without so much as a self-introduction. So, to correct that mistake, here's a quick and dirty self-explanation.

My name is Dwight Williams. I live in the Ottawa-Gatineau region, trying to earn a living through jobs in several fields ranging from general office work to writing to illustration. That last has been my ambition since childhood and I've been published several times as an artist in recent years. Courtroom art, op-ed cartoons for local weekly newspapers, and most recently, two comic book projects with varying degrees of success.

My current comics project is a mini-series called Local Hero, written by Ian Gould of Australia, one of that nation's comics retailers. It's a mix of superheroics and police drama set in the not-so-rural backwaters of Florida, and I like what I'm doing for that.

I've been involved with PB.ca almost from the beginning, having designed the logo that decorates every page of this site and I serve as the part-time manager for the spin-off Google Group, Comics and Animation Canada. Despite its name, it is not a federal department or agency and we don't plan to ever misrepresent it as such. I hope that everyone with an interest in Canadian-created/published comics and animation will make a point of dropping in and joining the fun.

I'll be dropping in from time to time here to post on whatever subject seems appropriate. Meantime, you can check out my own weblog, which links to a few other sites you might find worth some time to explore.

Thank you, Justin, for the invite and your patience in waiting for me to make up my mind.

FWC: All Canadian DVD Club

Canadian film is hard to see. If you live in a large city you might be lucky enough to catch a screening at a small rep theatre – if you even find out the screening is happening. If you miss it there you might find a copy at a good indie video store. Again that's if, you live in a big city and if the small indie video store is still in business. If you live in a smaller town chances are you can do neither of these things and will never have an opportunity to see many of the brilliant films that are produced in this country.

The First Weekend Club has been fighting to improve the situation, trying to get more Canadian films onto more screens for a longer period of time. Now they are getting ready to launch a DVD club so that you can actually own copies of those great Canadian films that no one gets to see.

Just think of it as a book club, but for movies. Each month a new DVD will be selected and throughout the month we will have an ongoing moderated discussion on our forum about the film. Participants will also be treated to "special guest appearances" by filmmakers, talent, film experts, etc.
This is a chance for you to connect with other First Weekend Club members across Canada, while bonding over great films - discovering the new and re-discovering "oldies" too.

They would like for you to take a moment though and take this survey before they get it up and going!

Screw the Oscars Anyway

Sure it was great to see so many Canadians nominated but really, the Oscars are tired and predictable and tend to reward personal popularity and box office success more than anything. Overall it has all the excitement and drama of Feist being nominated for "Best New Artist" (a joke in itself) and then losing to Amy Winehouse (also not new) because she needs the encouragement so she can handle the regular trips to rehab.

So - screw the Oscars anyway, our films are better and our stars spend less time in jail and jumping on sofas.

Talkback 2008

Presented by the First Weekend Club (http://www.firstweekendclub.ca/)

TalkBack 2008, with Genie Nominated Filmmakers, Sunday March 2nd, at The Drake Hotel, 1150 Queen West, 3pm to 4.30pm (with a reception to follow). Guests include Rob Stewart (Sharkwater) and Vic Sarin (Partition), hosted by Paul Gratton. An intimate Film Artists Salon, to celebrate the finest in Canadian filmmaking talent. $15.00, RSVP to info@firstweekendclub.ca

Canadian Short Film Festival

From the Canadian Filmmakers Festival and Bell - Comes the "Bell Video Award for Best Short." It would appear that there are only 3 films online now but the contest remains open until March 14. The rules read like this

• Films must be Canadian Productions
• Films should be no more than 10 minutes in total length.
• Films that have been already submitted the Canadian Film Fest are ALSO eligible.
• Please pay attention to our submission guidelines.
• Film School submissions are welcome

More info and short films to watch at http://www.bellvideostore.ca/FilmFestival/Home.aspx

Lift Workshops for March & Early April

The Liason for Independent Filmmakers of Toronto (http://www.lift.on.ca/) presents monthly workshops for would be indie filmmakers.

PROJECTOR MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR *
Fix your own Super 8 and 16mm projectors!
SUNDAY MARCH 16, NOON-6 PM
Instructor: MARTIN HEATH
Cost: Members $60, Non-Members $75
* at Cinecycle, 129 Spadina Ave.

GETTING STARTED AS AN ACTOR
Act from the child and do business from the adult!
MONDAY MARCH 17, 6-10 PM
Instructor: MICHELLE LATIMER
Cost: Members $45, Non-Members $55

THE ART OF BLACK AND WHITE REVERSAL FILMMAKING IN 16mm
An all-inclusive 'make a film' course - workshops, film and equipment!
SATURDAY MARCH 22-SATURDAY MARCH 29 (various dates and times)
Instructors: ERNIE KESTLER, JULIA EDIGER, ALEXI MANIS, SHENAZ BAKSH, JEREMY SINGER
Cost: Members $250, Non-Members $300

*SECOND CLASS ADDED!*
CAMERA THEORY
A foundational workshop for aspiring camera operators and directors!
SATURDAY APRIL 5, 10 am - 6 pm
Instructor: Guy Godfree
Cost: Members $50, Non-Members $60

p.s. Now on DVD: Everything's Gone Green

Really funny film, if you're local video store doesn't have it it's because they have no taste.

Kennedy & Kreydenweiss

Jamie Kennedy is making me check my labels.

Not ten minutes after speaking with the Toronto chef, I find myself making a cup of tea and looking at where the hell my "Duende" cuppa came from.

But then Kennedy has that effect.

A longtime advocate of organic growing, local sourcing, and biodynamic farming, Kennedy puts his practises where his beliefs are, and come February 8th, he'll be hosting an event at his Wine Bar to prove it.

Domaine Marc Kreydenweiss is a French winery renowned not only for their lovely wines and spirits, but for their biodynamic farming practises -a natural approach that involves refraining from chemical pesticides and a respect for soil reconstitution based on seasonal treatments.

Antoine Kreydenweiss, official spokesman for the winery, is travelling from Alsace for an evening of wine pairings and tastings, commencing at JK Wine Bar at 8pm. The night before (Thursday), he'll be at The Fine Wine Reserve for an evening of tasting and discussion.

That the Kreydenweiss winery fits into Kennedy's overall vision of healthful, natural food in sync with nature is no surprise.

Kennedy says he was concerned with local sourcing and organic food as far back as "the Palmerston days", a reference to the beloved restaurant he ran in the 1980s. That dedication, he says, " resulted in alliance of growers and users -whether they be consumers, regular citizens or chefs -to focus, foster & nurture relationships between growers and users in that field."

The consumers at the wine bar, he explains are " eager to try anything we present.", noting that customers have become more conscious in their consumption practises.

"There's a growing sense of trust about those kinds of direct relationships that weren't as important to people 10 or 15 years ago. It's taken other parts of society to recognize the way we're going is not good in a larger sense. People are more tuned into things like their carbon footprint, fossil fuels -things like that -and it's not limited to our sector of the economy, either. These are issues we've talked about for 20 years or more."

Environmental awareness -from food production to wineries and beyond -is something Kennedy says goes past the merely fashionable.

"It's here to stay, it's not a trend," he says passionately, "Yes, I do think there's a food culture developing -but part of that is identifying what's unique and what you do in that place."

Because the nature of the wine bar is seasonal (its menu changes daily), there is what Kennedy calls "the anticipation of things becoming available according to season, and that in turn, is what becomes more important -because people -rightly so -should look forward to the taste of asparagus in spring, not settle for mediocre asparagus year round."

The practise of seasonal, local, organic cultivation is one that has a natural extension to viniculture, too.

"Guys like Kreydenweiss don't brag about it," he explains, noting that another biodynamic grower, Chapoutier, have an equally big winery in the Rhone, "It's time for these kinds of farming practises, and relying on chemical input year after year ...it depletes organic matter, renders the soil dead. The plants can only respond to what you put in, rather than the soil regenerating its own material."

So the question is, how can the average food-loving person respond?

"Become more active," says Kennedy firmly, "Support local by buying it. The more people buy it, the less it'll cost."

Sounds like a delicious recipe to me.

For more information on the wine events, go to www.wineonline.ca.

For information on Domaine Marc Kreydenweiss, go to www.kreydenweiss.com.

For information on Jamie Kennedy, go to www.jamiekennedy.ca.