LG Life’s Good FilmFest Launches in Toronto

On August 11 LG Electronics announced the first LG Life’s Good FilmFest, a Canadian film festival offering up $130,000 in prize money for short films. With no entry fee, this film festival will allow all talent to show their stuff.

“There’s really no other film festival like the LG Life’s Good FilmFest. The concept is simple: an engaging HD short film festival with no entry fee and the chance to win incredible cash prizes. We’re absolutely thrilled that Jaime Foxx could join us to help launch the festival, as his amazing work in film, comedy and music really exemplifies the spirit and talent the FilmFest will no doubt attract,” Tim Barnes said to a media gathering to announce the film festival. Tim Barnes, marketing director for LG Electronics Canada told a media gathering about the short film festival. Using old school snail mail, participants can send in their films in hopes of winning the $100,000 grand prize within one of four categories: Animation, Fashion and Music, Sports and Narrative. The other top three films will each win $10,000 in prize money.

Viewers can watch the short films that have been submitted on the LG’s Life’s Good YouTube channel or at the LG Film Fest site. During the holiday season shoppers will be able to take a five-minute break in stores while viewing some of the best short films from the Film Festival. “We will be giving customers a chance to smile.” stated Barnes. The films will all be presented in HD format, giving the best views for the film makers. Deadline for entering this year’s FilmFest is October 16. The winner will be announced in January 2010. Some people that attended questioned Foxx as the celebrity launching the festival because he is not Canadian. Still Foxx does bring a vast array of talent to the table.

Jeff Wyonch’s Art Hits The City Running

There’s a new writing photographer in Toronto showing the world the beauty of the city’s art in the form of graffiti. “Artist Welcome” by Jeff Wyonch shows Toronto in a can of paint.
Wyonch has been writing since he can remember breathing and taking photos of Toronto for a number of years.

His photos can be seen on his photostream at flickr under the mysterious name Jape Wisteria. I asked Jeff what his screen name meant:

“Jape is a old time word for prank and Wisteria just fit in perfectly. The wisteria is a very strong flower and artful. It has a manly quality about it. Plus I tend to be a prankster so take that as you will.”

“Artist Welcome” is now back into editing production. Wyonch promises that the next edition will be even better than the first.

For a man who doesn’t consider himself an artist Wyonch has a very artful approach to the world. He sees every space as another extension that can be put under the microscope.

After Jeff puts the finishing touches on “Welcome Artist” he is planning on publishing a book of haiku.

“I have a million ideas and in time hope to have at least one more photography book out. Even though I have written for all of my life I still consider myself new to the craft.”

During the day Jeff works as a User Interface Developer for CBC. He and the others in his department make sure that the Internet side of the CBC run smoothly.

At night and on the weekend the artist emerges. It is a safe bet this prankster’s art will be delighting Toronto and the world for a very long time.

Friendship Can Change a Life, the Nathaniel Ayers Story

Sometimes the course of a life is changed by a simple act of kindness. Sometimes that kindness comes because a journalist wants a story. for whatever reason Nathaniel Ayers life changed when his friendship with Steve Lopez formed.
Ayers story was presented in the recent movie The Soloist starring Jamie Fox and Robert Downey Jr. But Nathaniel Ayers is a real man and his story is inspiring.

Ayers’ story has inspired newspaper columns, a book and the movie. In 2008 a foundation bearing his name was started to support the artistically gifted that struggle with mental illness.

Above all Nathaniel Anthony Ayers Jr. is a musican. His mental illness has hindered his role in society but not his talent.

He studied at Julliard School in New York City until his schizophrenia blocked his way. For years he lived at his mother’s home in Cleveland, Ohio and dealt with electroshock treatments. They didn’t help.

In 2000 after his mother passed away Ayers left for Los Angeles believing that his father lived there. In LA he joined the thousands that live on the street. Playing broken instruments on street corners for a living Ayers survived.

In 2005 Steve Lopez happened upon Ayers. The LA Times journalist wrote about the talented man and formed a friendship. Lopez went on to write a book,”The Soloist: A Lost Dream, an Unlikely Friendship, and the Redemptive Power of Music” , about Ayers transition from living on the street to living inside.

Jennifer Ayers-Moore, sister of Nathaniel, is the founder of the Nathaniel Anthony Ayers Foundation. The Foundation was begun in 2008. It is Jennifer’s desire to use the foundation to help thousands of people by keeping public awareness about mental health on the front burner.

One of the partners of the foundation is the LAMP Community. LAMP is an organization that works to end homelessness and build self-sufficiency with those on the Los Angeles streets that deal with mental illness. Using a Housing First approach they use housing as a means to begin the first steps in treating their clients mental illness.

Norman Rockwell Museum Celebrates 40th Anniversary

The Norman Rockwell Museum has been open for the past 40 years. This summer they have lined up exhibitions, programs and events through July to celebrate the works of Norman Rockwell.
Founded in 1969 with the help of Norman and Molly Rockwell the museum has been a large part of the culture scene in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Rockwell resided in the Massachusetts town for the last quarter of his life.

The museum has two new shows, “American Chronicles: The Art of Norman Rockwell” and “The Fantastical Faces of Peter Rockwell: A Sculptor’s Retrospective.” The latter is showcasing the works of Rockwell’s son Peter.

On July 4, the museum is free for everyone under the age of 18 for a celebration of the nation’s birthday. There will be a barbecue, hands on red,white and blue art projects and more.

On July 5, the 40th Anniversary Party will take place honouring the founding leaders Norma Ogden, Lila Berle, and Jane Fitzpatrick. The night will feature music, a silent auction, activities for all ages and a cocktail party.

On July 11 Peter Rockwell will be at the museum for the day explaining his approach to his work in clay, stone, ceramic and bronze. The day will feature Rockwell guiding an exhibition walk and talk and a book signing.

The museum is open throughout the year except for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day. Photography is not permitted inside the galleries. Visitors are not allowed to carry backpacks or large packages into the museum.

Art Gallery of Ontario Announces Opening of Two New Exhibitions

This weekend the AGO in Toronto will open the Angelika Hoerle: The Comet of Cologne Dada and Painting as a Weapon: Progressive Cologne 1920–33.

These exhibits are to complement the current Surreal Things exhibition that explores art as a catalyst of social and political change.

The Angelika Hoerie exhibit is being presented by guest curator Angie Littlefield, grandniece of the artist. The exhibit shows the personal side of Hoerle.

Hoerle’s work from 1919 until her death in 1923 shows her political conscience. Even though her family, social conventions, personal tragedies and tuberculosis could not stop the passionate artist from her work of World War I Germany.

Most of Hoerle’s known works are on display on loan from the Yale University Art Gallery and Museum Ludwig Cologne. Following the showing at AGO the collection will travel to Museum Ludwig.

“Angelika Hoerle had a desire to change the world through political engagement,” says Michael Parke-Taylor, the AGO’s acting curator of European art. “She was deeply committed to left-wing politics and, in fact, her first prints were of Socialist political martyrs. She also explored the place of female artists in the male-dominated art scene in Cologne.”

The exhibit will be shown from May 23 until August 30.

Also opening on May 23 is Painting as a Weapon:Progressive Cologne 1920–33 / Seiwert – Hoerle – Arntz. The collection organized by Museum Ludwig examines the works of Franz W. Seiwert, Heinrich Hoerle and Gerd Arntz. Curator Lynette Roth will document the artists activities until their work was condemned as ‘degenerate’ in 1933 by the Nazi regime.

The exhibition shows how the Progressives used painting as a weapon during the hard years in Germany prior to the rise of Hitler.

“The rallying cry for Surrealism was ‘we must change life,’” says Parke-Taylor. “A desire to change themselves and the world drove the Surrealists to explore mysteries of the self and to value the irrational over the orderly. Angelika Hoerle’s works are harbingers of surrealism, while the Cologne Progressives seized painting as a tool for change in the midst of post-war economic and social crisis.”

The exhibit will continue until August 30.

Slamming To The Word White House Style

For the first time ever slam poetry was in the House. The White House, that is. On Tuesday night the First Family hosted the poetry event for 100 people.

Last year Obama promised while on the campaign trail that he would bring poets and musicians into the White House to “open up the White House and remind people this it is the people’s house.”

He has already made good that promise with concerts by Fergie, Stevie Wonder, Sweet Honey in the Rock and Earth Wind & Fire since taking office. Tuesday night though was the first Poetry Slam, a form of poetry that takes the word and brings it out with energy as the verses are performed.

Tonight’s event features James Earl Jones; poet Mayda Del Valle, novelist Michael Chabon, jazz musicians ELEW and Esperanza Spalding and playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda, not the average mix for the urban poetry form.

NBC New York reports:

“It’s an incredible honor any time to receive an invitation from the White House and President Obama,” said Arizona Rep. Krysten Sinema, who is among the 100 people invited to attend the event. “But to see our nation’s talent and be a part of history at the first-ever White House Poetry Slam is amazing. I’m very excited to be a part of this moment.”

Songwriters Workshop SongStudio Coming To Toronto In July

In July a week-long workshop for songwriters will take place in Toronto. SongStudio is the creation of Rik Emmett and Blair Packham two of Toronto’s best songwriters.
During the week students will be spending one-on-one time with faculty and having the chance to meet with some of the industry’s top names. The event will be held on the campus of Ryerson University. The workshop is for anyone who wishes to improve their songs and is for songwriters of all levels.

Blair Packham is the program director. He is in charge of designing and implementing content of the workshop. Packham has been writing songs since he was 17. He was part of Toronto’s The Jitters and recorded two albums for Capitol-EMI Music of Canada with the band. Since that time Packham has spent his time in the industry working behind the scenes with themes and scores for broadcasters such as TSN, Global Television, Discovery Channel, CBC Newsworld, TVO, CTV and others.

Since the 1990’s Packham has been involved with the Songwriters Association of Canada. An advocate for the rights and privileges of songwriters Packham has worked to foster more education for songwriters. He currently teaches songwriting at Humber College and Seneca College. He is also a co-host for the weekly Toronto music radio show ‘Rock Talk.’

Emmett and Packham have been running the event since 2005. Some of the alumni have gone on to release their own recordings, perform and tour. One special stand out is Justin Nozuka who was a nominee for Best New Artist at the 2007 Juno Awards.

The cost for the week is $750.

I had the opportunity to interview Blair about the workshop.

KJ: Why did you want to do SongStudio in the beginning?

Blair: Rik Emmett was teaching courses in the music business industry at Humber in 2005 and the facility approached him about doing a summer program. He asked me to work on it. It has run for the past four summers but the school wasn’t making money at it. This summer with the school’s blessing we’re running it ourselves as an independent program.

KJ:How many students are you planning on having this year?

Blair: We’re hoping to have roughly 50 students. That has been in the number range the past years. With 50 to 55 students we have the staff. If we get more students we will increase the staff and have to get more classroom space from Ryerson. Spots are open until the day before but after June 1 the cost does increase to $850. We’re expecting many returns. One of those who has been in the workshop for years saw me last night and said “I just go to hang out with so many friends and talented people.” And that is how we feel also, many of those who have been in the workshop in the past are now friends.

Even in spite of the economy the workshop is the deal of the century. The amount of talent that students have a chance to be with is just incredible.

KJ: Have you had a ‘wow’ moment during past workshops?

Blair: Oh my goodness! Over and over! One is when Justin Nozuka first attended the first year. We just were wowed by his voice and musical ability. His songwriting was okay but needed some work. The wow effect was even stronger though when he came back to visit and performed. He was and is just amazing.

Another wow moment was with a student named Christian Caldeira. He has an incredible voice. I haven’t seen him since but he was definitely a wow moment.

KJ: With everything that you are involved with how do you find the time to plan out the workshops?

Blair: We have a rough template of how the workshop will be. The first year was the most difficult because there was no template in place. But it is very time consuming. It’s hard for me to even find time to talk on the phone or watch TV. What’s the hardest for me is the lack of time to compose songs. That really hits me when I play a gig. I have though managed to steal some time and have written three new songs. I find that I have to steal time to do everything.

KJ: What is your advice to budding songwriters?

Blair: There is only one right reason to be a songwriter and that is because you love it. An artist is asked to do music they don’t like or write something they don’t want.

You need to remember why you write. It’s an act of communication not just for yourself but also for your audience. They are who come to hear you play, hopefully. You want to be able to connect your feelings to them. Simple things to remember are not to make your songs too long and have a memorable melody. But the most important is to remember that communication factor. You want people to listen so you have to give your audience a song that they can feel and connect with. Your song has to be responsive and be interesting.

Layoffs at Toronto’s Art Gallery of Ontario Prompts Protest

There are threats that more than 100 jobs could be in the balance at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) due to restructuring and organizational changes. Those changes may be the result of a 18-month review that studied a number of U.S. museums.
It may be better news though for AGO as new funding increased by the government has come in. Because of the funding the Ontario Public Service Employees Union is saying that AGO must reverse its decision to lay of staff. But will they?

On April 8 the Ontario government added $8.6 million to this year’s funding for the gallery and added an annual operating funding of $10 million.

That didn’t make any difference. On April 2 and April 6 the gallery laid off 26 full-time employees. Many of those who lost their jobs had been with the gallery for decades. They were all in specialty fields. According to literature that OPSEU was handing out on the street the total years of experience of those who were laid off totaled 275. One of the reasons the second lay off came according to Union Stewart Paula Whitmore was on April 2 the AGO had it’s annual fund raiser. Some of those that were let go the following Monday were part of the crew that worked long hours to put the fund raiser on. Ms. Whitmore said she knew of one employee who was laid off who had toiled 16 hour days in prepping for the event and then was without a job the next Monday.

The Union also contends that the layoffs came when the management of AGO knew the additional funding would be coming. The Ontario public Service Employees Union believes that that funding the the AGO received is a good enough reason to reverse the lay offs. All of the Union staff that were let go were in highly skilled positions. Ms. Whitmore told me that the Union is concerned that the gallery’s quality of work will suffer as a result of the lay offs.

“Who’s going to be looking out for the public interest. The collection belongs to the public. The quality of the art will be suffering because those who were full-time employees and skilled have been laid off and part-time employees will have to try to have to do the work of full time employees.”

On Wednesday, April 15 the OPSEU and members of the public picketed the gallery starting at 5:30 PM. The Union chose Wednesday night because it is Toronto’s free night each week at the AGO.

Marketwire reports:

OPSEU President Warren (Smokey) Thomas asked for an immediate halt to the layoffs. “We will not stand by while the AGO pretends to care about the public and at the same time uses union-busting tactics against decent working people who have thrown their lives into this work on behalf of the public,” he said.

OPSEU and members of the public will picket the gallery at 5:30 pm on Wednesday, April 15.

“I don’t know how Teitelbaum can look himself in the mirror after saying to our staff only last week that the new AGO is a wondrous thing, brimming with life and deep potential to change the way people experience the world,” Thomas said.
Executive Director of Public Affairs Susan Bloch-Nevitte says that the gallery only knew that there was the possibility of funding. That knowledge though wasn’t all that was in consideration when it came down to the lay offer. The changes were already in place regardless of if funding came in. It’s part of a restructuring period with the gallery, one that many other galleries and museums are also having to undergo to keep afloat during these times.

“It’s never easy to have to let employees go,” Bloch-Nevitte said, “No one likes laying folks off. It’s not like yippee bring it on. But the fact is the world is changing and so is AGO. It’s a different world and economic factors are different. We can’t stop change.”

Bloch-Nevitte is correct. The times are changing not only for AGO but for museums world wide. Membership and patronage have declined. At this time it’s not a wise idea in bringing in a lot of new works when the gallery has 23,000 pieces of art, many of which have not been seen by the public yet. It’s time to bring more attention to AGO’s permanent works. That doesn’t mean that there will no new pieces being bought, just fewer. Because of this some positions at AGO have had to be streamlined. In the end 23 people of the 600 employees had to be laid off in an effort to cut costs. No one entire department was let go and the lay offs affected many different areas.

When I asked Ms. Bloch-Nevitte why it was the older employees that were let go she said that while some of those who were laid off had been with AGO for years others had not. It was more of deciding where the existing employees fit into the new structuring of the AGO and who sadly didn’t fit in. What the gallery hopes to be doing in the future is adding new positions that those who have been laid off will be able to come back to work. That will take some time though.

The truth is AGO is changing with the times, like other fields in the arts where the recession and public interest effects the tides. There will be a newer on-line focus with the gallery as well as social media and networking aspects which will result in new career opportunities.

The management of the AGO has a hard road ahead. They have to be able to make provisions for quality and still be able to run a sustainable gallery.

Naheet Wins Top Prize On Reality TV Poet Contest

In Saudi Arabia there’s a new type of reality TV, poetry competitions ala American Idol. This year’s winner is 34-year-old Ziyad Hijab bin Naheet.
Naheet performed in front of an audience of 2,000 in studio and 17 million in front of their televisions to bring home the top prize of $1,361,207.64. Naheet is a Nabati poet. Nabati poetry is an ancient form of storytelling in verse. It is recited in tribal dialects unlike other forms of classic Arab poetry.

The Global Post reports:

“It’s the most famous genre of poetry in the Gulf,” explained Muhammad Ayish, a professor of communications at the University of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, the seven-state nation nestled between Saudi Arabia and Oman.

Arab’s are one of the first cultures to perform the Spoken Word in the form of poetry. It has always been an important part of the culture.

The show “Million’s Poet” has been a huge success. The elders are pleased that the younger generation is seeing that poetry is being preserved with the young. The show is Abu Dhabi TV’s highest rated prime time show. The contestants recite their own poetry written in the Nabati style. The poetry form dates back to the fourth century.

The studio audience is segregated with men and women sitting in different areas. Women who are performing however at with the men they compete against.

The Guardian reports:

“When we designed this show we had in mind the grandness of Who Wants to be a Millionaire and the suspense of Pop Idol, ” says Nashwa Al Ruwaini, Millions’ Poets producer and head of the show’s production company, Pyramedia. “The idea was to create a new format that would appeal to this part of the world without offending this part of the world.”

Regional governments are very active in reviving Nabati poetry. Poetry festivals are becoming popular.
At Dubai International Poetry Festival 2009 audiences listened to poems that were translated to various languages as well as dialects.

The Saudi Gazette quotes Jamal Huwaireb, chairman of the recent event:

“We want to help break that translation barrier,” he said. The organizing committee has called on poet-translators to contribute to the noble cause of making poetry available in many different languages. The festival has also launched the Translator Poet Award which goes to the one who provides an accurate translation of own poems in other languages, including Arabic. With that, Dubai has rightly “earned the title of the world city of poetry,” Huwaireb said.

Global Post quotes the star of the hour, Naheet.

“All of royalty loves it,” Naheet said.

“It’s unacceptable for someone to stand up and say ‘I love you,’” he explained. “Whereas to use the channel of poetry to convey praise, loyalty and love, it’s acceptable.”

The Boxmasters Cancel Canada Tour

Billy Bob Thornton has canceled the rest of his Canadian tour with his band, The Boxmasters, citing a bandmate’s sickness. The show goes on though with the headliner Willie Nelson.
The Boxmasters were set to open for Willie Nelson Friday night in Montreal. Instead of playing the gig the box office was called and told that only one of the opening acts would be performing.

The Boxmasters were also scheduled to play London, Ontario on Saturday but that is also going to be a no show. The band said some of the musicians came down the flu.

Thornton and his band faced booing fans booing in Toronto on Thursday night at Massey Hall. The boos came from an interview that Thornton and the Boxmasters had done earlier on the show show Q with host Jian Ghomeshi where he likened Canadians with mashed potatoes without gravy.

2 Canada reports:

“Boo all you want, but I want to say something,” Thornton told Toronto crowd. He then called Ghomeshi an “a-hole.”

Earlier the same day Thornton had told reporters that he loved Canada.

The band may have also taken offense to a bad review that they got in the Globe and Mail. Robert Everett-Green called the Thursday night performance one of the most amateurish performances he’s ever seen at Massey Hall.

Toronto’s ROM Facing Controversy Over the Dead Sea Scrolls

In June the Royal Ontario Museum is planning on exhibiting the Dead Sea Scrolls. That showing is being blasted by the Palestinians as they say the scrolls were acquired illegally by Israel when the Jewish state annexed East Jerusalem in 1967.

For six months the museum plans to exhibit what has been hailed as one of the greatest historical finds.

That’s a problem for top Palestinian officials. This week they declared the exhibit a violation of international law and has demanded that Canada cancel the showing.

Letters have been sent to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the top brass at the ROM with senior Palestinian officials arguing that the scrolls are theirs and not the property of Israel.

The Toronto Star reports:

“The exhibition would entail exhibiting or displaying artifacts removed from the Palestinian territories,” said Hamdan Taha, director-general of the archaeological department in the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. I think it is important that Canadian institutions would be responsible and act in accordance with Canada’s obligations.”

The Palestinians are saying that both Canada and Israel are signatories to all agreements.

The protest letter sent to Harper was signed by Salam Fayyad, prime minister of the Palestinian Authority and its second-in-command while the letter sent to the ROM was signed by Khouloud Daibes, minister of tourism and antiquities.

The scrolls were discovered in 11 caves lining the Dead Sea between 1947 and 1957. Who owns them has been loudly disputed since that time.

Lauren, a spokeswoman for ROM, told Digital Journal there is no further information at statements being given until the matter has been fully investigated.

Omar from the General Delegation of Palestine in Canada was also unable to release an official statement at this time.

The Consulate of Israel in Toronto is closed until next week for Passover.

The planned exhibition at the ROM is called the Dead Sea Scrolls: Words that Changed the World. It is set to run from June 27 to Jan. 3.

Opinion: It’s Saturday Night In Toronto, Must Be Time To Slam

If you’re lucky enough to live in Toronto you can come to Poetry Slams at the Drake Underground on Queen Street West every month. On March 28, it was the Toronto Poetry Slam’s semi finals hosted by Dave “Big Deal” Silverberg.

This Saturday night’s show featured some of Toronto’s best Slam Poets along with special guest Jamaal St. John from New Jersey. Big Deal David Silverberg (yes, the same guy who helps run DigitalJournal.com) was on hand to keep the pace moving and provide a haiku or two.

People had to be turned away tonight. There was no room to find a chair so the floor had to make due for many lucky enough to find a spot to rest. My spot on the ground was beside Valentino Assenza’s mother who told me how very proud of her son she was.

Teens on a first date and teachers wanting to have a first experience joined others who live for Slam. Screaming out the Slam Anthem we all became one, a mass of souls ready to hear the spoken word.

Tomy, Lara,Truth Is, Nolan, White Noise Machine, Yogi, Peace, Pan, Valentino Assenza, Ariel Platt, Kimiko and Mike Lipsius were all completing for the eight spots to go onto the finals in April. The final winners will be representing Toronto not only at the Canadian slam Finals but at the National Poetry Slam in West Palm Springs, Florida later this year.

Slam Poetry isn’t your momma’s poetry. It’s gutsy, new age and in your face. Topics can range from comedy to tears. The energy is infectious and the emotions are raw. Tonight’s spoken words did not fail the standing room only audience. From the fears of Iraq and the pain of the recent fighting in the Gaza Strip the horrors of war were expressed by many of the poets. Self doubt, body size, capitalism and the spoken word rounded out the mix. Two of my personal favorites were spoken by Tomy and Truth Is. Truth Is spoke of wanting to be able to sing a love song to one’s self and fearing that the words would never ring true while Tomy spoke of his daughter’s silent first minutes of life. Both poems are raw and powerful, as were all of the poems tonight.

Slam events have judges. It’s hard to judge a poet’s word but as Slam is not just poetry in motion but the energy and performance level the judge’s scores are needed for one poet or several to move on.

The eight finalist that will move on to the Finals on April 25, 2009 at Hugh’s Room at 2261 Dundas St. West are:

Tomy, Lara, Truth Is, Nolan, Peace, Valentino Assenza, Ariel Platt and Kimiko. Kimiko and Peace are newcomers to the Toronto Slam scene while the other six have been touching the crowds for a while now.

As with all Slam’s an international star is featured. Tonight the audience was graced with the stylings of Jamaal St. John from New Jersey. He was amazing. From his poem honouring women who know what Lane Bryant’s is and how he knows there is a God because real women have curves to his final piece the questioned a man who told him that Barack Obama wasn’t black enough to earn his vote, his words rang true.

If you have the chance to hit up Hugh’s Room on April 25 don’t hesitate. Poetry slams are where it’s at in Toronto. Culture comes cheap and speaks to your soul.

*The photos with this article are not the best quality, as they were taken on a cellphone with dark stage lighting.

Sylvia Plath’s son commits suicide

Forty-six years after his mother poet Sylvia Plath killed herself, Nicholas Hughes ended his own life by hanging himself.

Nicholas Hughes was the son of poets Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath.

Ms. Plath’s suicide in 1963 reportedly after enduring her husbands many relationships with other women. Six years later Ted Hughes’ mistress Assia Wevill also killed herself in the same manner as Plath.

Nicholas and his sister Frieda were just infants when their mother pinned a suicide note to their pram. She then went to the kitchen and gassed herself by inhaling the fumes from the over. she spared her children’s lives by sealing the door with towels. She was a mere 30 years old.

The children were not told how their mother died until they were teenagers. Friends told the Daily Mail that Hughes’ suicide was not a legacy of his mother’s death.

‘Nick wasn’t just the baby son of Plath and Hughes and it would be wrong to think of him as some kind of inevitably tragic figure,’ the friend was quoted as saying.

‘He was a man who reached his mid-forties, an adventurous marine biologist with a distinguished academic career behind him and a host of friends and achievements in his own right.

‘That is the man who is mourned by those who knew him.’

Nicholas Hughes, 47, had been battling depression. He was unmarried and had no children.

Hughes was a evolutionary ecologist professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

The Guardian reports:

“It is with profound sorrow that I must announce the death of my brother, Nicholas Hughes, who died by his own hand on Monday 16th March 2009 at his home in Alaska,” Frieda Hughes said in a statement published by The Times.

Toronto Street Art Means Spring Is Back

Walking down the streets in Toronto can be an adventure in art. A person doesn’t have to shell out any money to be serenaded or see a new painting.

Art takes place on the streets of Toronto everyday but once Spring is in the air it really takes off. Listening to guitarists or fiddlers or the sounds of Scottish bagpipes can be had just by taking a walk on any downtown street.

KJ Mullins Chalk artists are everywhere. One of those artists, Chalkmaster Dave Johnston was outside the Eaton Centre on Wednesday bringing his talents to life. He’s been working the cement since 1991. Now he’s a master and that skill has taken him to corporate gigs, special events, festivals worldwide and private commissions. KJ Mullins Chalkmaster posing with his work Visit Toronto’s streets with a camera. You never know when you’ll have the chance to have a piece of art to capture. With Spring back though chances are very high the street is filled with it. Shane Mullins

Toronto’s Filmport Studios Are Booming

Toronto’s newest film and television studio doesn’t have any free parking places. That’s great news for the city as filming is up and the studios are almost completely booked.

Filmport Studios opened last year at the worst time possible. The Canadian dollar was close to par with the U.S. dollar and producers were staying south of the border. The dollar rates have changed though, helping Toronto gain more work.

Filmport is attracting a number of pilots this year as well as feature films. Both Atom Egoyan’s Chloe, starring Julianne Moore and Liam Neeson, and Love Child, starring Donald Sutherland are being shot in the city. Next month Brampton native Michael Cera will be shooting Scott Pilgrim vs. The World in T Town.

The pilot market is looking rosy as well with Happy Town for ABC/Disney, Battle of Maggie Hill for Fox and two CBS/Paramount pilots, Back and U.S. Attorney all being shoot in the studios and streets of Toronto.

The Toronto Star reports:

“We’re definitely looking at 2009 being a better year in film and television production than it was in 2008. Notwithstanding the horrible recession that’s going on in the world, this is one sector in Toronto that’s going to be better off,” said Ken Ferguson, president of Toronto Film Studios.

That’s good news for the 35,000 Torontonians that make their living in the film industry.

Feeling The Economic Pinch- US Museums

As the economic crisis continues museums in the United States are feeling the pinch. New York and Philadelphia are both slashing jobs, salaries and closing up shops as their endowments are being hit hard.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is down to only eight stores of their 23 across the United States. By July 21 ten percent of their work force will have been handed a pink slip.

Founded almost 130 years ago the museum has lost about $800 million since mid-2008 from their endowments. The Met is a nonprofit that survives only with the help of endowment, government aid, private donations and admission revenues.

On Friday The Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia frozen hiring and announced that salaries would be slashed by 5 percent. In early 2008 the museum had $60 million in endowments, today that figure is less than $40 million.

People have had to stop coming to museums as wallets shrink. Even foreign tourist are shying away from the suggested $20 donation for admission fee.

In Toledo, Ohio the museum is also having to make staff cuts to stay afloat. The Museum of Contemporary Art in Cleveland has had to stop plans to build a new home until the economy recovers.

Across the country museums are having to let their staff go or cut salaries.

The super wealthy that funds museums are having to tighten their belts as their money is flying away quickly. Without the funding could the United States soon be without the culture that comes from a trip to the museum?

Perhaps it is time for people to skip a movie and take their family to see live action art in it’s glory. Wait to long and the art may no longer be available for viewing.

Jay Leno Could Be Yanked From Writer’s Guild

When Jay Leno went on the air during the writer’s strike last year he performed his own material. The Writers Guild of America is considering tossing him out because of that.

Leno is a member of the Writers Guild of America and should have been on strike right beside them according to their rules. The union is putting the late night talk show host on trial. On Wednesday he appeared before the union with his lawyer on charges that he broke the rules, a year after the alleged violations.

Jay Leno is fighting back. He is insisting that he did no wrong. He is the highest profile of writers who are being reviewed by the committee. That committee will rule on what actions should be taken. Penalties could include a reprimand, a fine and finally at the worst case, expulsion from the union.

Leno is being accused of performing “struck work” that would otherwise have been done by a WGA member.

Last January Leno told his audiences that he was doing his old job for himself according to the LA Times.

“I’m doing what I did the day I started,” he told his audience on his first night back on the air. “I write jokes and wake my wife up in the middle of the night and say, ‘Honey, is this funny?’ “

“We are following the guild thing,” Leno assured his viewers. “We can write for ourselves.”

Leno maintains that as a performer he was exempt for the rules that banned any members from performing work that would have been done by striking writers. As a guild member and a writer credited on the show, Leno was also barred from writing in general.

NBC spokeswoman Rebecca Marks has said that the network will support Leno in this matter.

Scott Symons, Groundbreaking Author Has Passed Away At 75

Before it was legal to be gay in Canada writer Scott Symons flung open his closet door. In 1967 he wrote Place d’Armes, a groundbreaking book with gay themes and an experimental style.

The novel presented as a journal, unusual for its time. The stream-of-consciousness style told of a man who escaped Toronto’s Anglo-Canadian morality to live in Montreal.

Symons was no stranger to scandal. He fled Toronto with his 17-year-old male lover for the warmth of Mexico. Left behind was his wife and young son.

He was born in 1933 amidst the wealth of Rosedale. He was educated at the University of Toronto, Cambridge University and The Sorbonne. Early in his career he was a journalist with the Quebec Chronicle Telegraph and La Presse. His career path lead him to the Royal Ontario Museum where he wrote Heritage, A Romantic Look at Early Canadian Furniture during his time as curator.

Evading Mexican police who were seeking him at the request of his and his lover’s families he moved to Morocco. There he lived for 25 years. He wrote his novel Helmet of Flesh while residing there.

In 2005 Symons returned to Toronto where he resided until his death Monday.

India Is Giving Slumdog Child Actors Decent Housing

The two youngest “slumdogs” are moving on up. The Indian government has announced that Slumdog Millionaire’s Rubina Ali and Azharuddin Ismail will be receiving new homes when they return from the United States.

Rubina Ali and Azharuddin Ismail played the roles of Latika and Salim as children in the movie that swept the Oscars.

Prior to the Oscars it was revealed that the two young actors were living in Garib Nagar, a slum in north Mumbai and were paid very little for their roles in the movie. At present Azharuddin lives under a tarpaulin next to a road. His father supported his family on just a £1 a day. He has been unable to work because of his failing health from TB. Rubiana’s family has it slightly better, they share a one-room hut that is next to an open sewer.

MSNBC reports:

“These two children have brought laurels to the country, and we have been told that they live in slums, which cannot even be classified as housing,” said Gautam Chatterjee, head of the state-run Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority.

Danny Boyle, the director of the film, and producer Christian Colso have denied claims that the children were exploited in the making of the film. Instead they say that Rubina Ali and Azharuddin Ismail were paid above local Indian wages. They also contend that the children are now enrolled in school with a fund in place to pay for their education, medical emergencies and other basic living expenses.

The nine children that were featured in the film were at the Academy Awards. Fox Searchlight Pictures paid for their visas, travel and accommodations to California so that they could attend the Oscars.

While the government is getting housing ready the children are enjoying their time in California. Danny Boyle took them to Disney on Monday.

The Daily Mail reports:

Boyle told the Daily Mail: ‘These are bricks and mortar flats. They will have electricity, running water and good sanitation.

‘They will still be close to their friends and extended family.

‘Their community is very important to them, and they don’t want to move too far away from them.

The children all have a trust fund set up for when they turn 18. But 18 is a long ways off when they live in extreme poverty.

At this time the film’s investors and distributors are setting up a fund for the slum and street children residing in Mumbai. The initial figure is at £500,000 and expected to rise.

Toronto Poet Truth Is Tells It Like It Is

How do you change the viewpoint of society? For some it’s the pen. For some that pen bleeds the soul of an audience, hitting hard. Powerful words in the form of poetry shook us to the core. Such words are spoken by a Toronto poet named aptly Truth Is.

“Words mean nothing without expression!” -Truth Is

For Truth Is word are in fact truth. Her truths the truths of the underdog. The truths of one who is shy or beaten or angry. Truth is a hard crevice to conquer at times for it’s not always a pretty picture of white picket fences. There are holes in those roads. There are reasons why she doesn’t write letters to Santa Claus. Her words mean something. She means something.

Truth Is is young. Only 24 but making a huge impact on the Spoken Word circuit in Toronto. She has been performing for the past three years but only in the Slam scene for the last sixteen months.

Her words have seen the airwaves as both FLOW 93.5’s OTA LIVE and CBC Radio One 99.1’s Big City, Small World have aired her poetry.

She is involved with Strong Words, Cryptic Chatter, Word Jam, Dementia 5, Underground Sounds and the Toronto Poetry Slam. She also gives of her time working with youth shelters, schools and the Children’s Peace Theater.

Karen Emerson, artistic director of the Children’s Peace Theater said in a phone interview that Truth Is has been an inspiring artist for those who have had the pleasure to work with her for the last three years. Her volunteer work with the group has been “amazing.” Truth has not only performed but worked on long term projects helping the youth of the city of Toronto.

Those in Toronto have a chance to check her out on March 1, 2009 at The Boat at 158 Augusta Avenue.

Jerry Lewis Given The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award

The Academy Awards honoured Jerry Lewis on Sunday with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. Lewis looking much more fit than in recent years was presented the award by Eddie Murphy for this good works with MDA.

“For most of my life I thought that doing good for someone didn’t mean you would receive commendation for that act of kindness,” Lewis said. “At least until now.

“This award touches my heart and the very depth of my soul because of who the award is from, and those who will benefit.”

Jerry Lewis is now best known for his work with the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Lewis has been the advocate of those stricken with the diseases that the association works for since 1966. In that time he has helped to rise $2 billion.

Lewis began with the group though many years before the first telethon. He has refused to reveal the reasons for working with the charity.

The Associated Press reports:

“The impact of his humanitarian efforts on people with muscle-wasting diseases is beyond measure,” Muscular Dystrophy Association President Gerald C. Weinberg said in a statement released earlier this month.

The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award is named for the Danish actor who co-founded the Motion Picture Relief Fund. That fund helps to pay for those in the movie industry who can’t afford their own medical care. Hersholt also served as one of the Academy’s presidents.

There were some behind the scenes though who were not for this award. A small band of protesters picketed saying that the MDA telethons are dated and that Lewis wants people to pity those with muscular dystrophy.

Opinion: Politics, The Academy and A Little Guy Called Oscar

This year Slumdog Millionaire won eight of the awards including best picture. Were the awards deserved or was Hollywood shouting out a message?

Presenters this year announced Slumdog Millionaire over and over. Editing, score, song, sound mixing, cinematography, writing, directing and of choice best film each was another golden statue for the film.

Granted the awards were well deserved. Still could the global economy crisis have played into the voting? That from poverty good things can come? That the lowest of the low can be winners?

Is it too lofty an idea that by a movie that shows extreme poverty and hardship could inspire others? The movie shows after all Jamal’s intelligence wins. That the education of being poor, of not having it all was the one that made him a winner.

We’re living in a time where Slumdog Millionaire’s poverty is a reality for much of the world. We see in the news the hunger of children. We know of the crimes, the hopelessness, the cruelty. Isn’t it nice to think that someone can rise up and win from that situation?

The public is not privy to the ways different stars choose their picks. But is it not possible that when sitting in front of the screen those voters want their choices to matter? To say something. to be a ray of hope?

If that is the case, the voters did their job.

Opinion: ‘Frozen River’ The extraordinary picture of the year

The breakout picture of the year can be seen in this year’s “Frozen River.” Both Melissa Leo and Misty Upham give the performances of their lifetimes as two struggling mothers doing what they have to for their families.

Set on the Mohawk Reservation border between New York and Quebec this powerful film by Courtney Hunt tells the story of two mothers turned human smugglers.

The chance of fast money to provide a better home for her young sons proves to tempting to mother Ray Eddy. With her husband run off just a week before Christmas and a balloon payment due for a double wide Ray is at her wits end.

Enter Lila, a young mother who’s son was taken from her at birth. Lila’s worked the illegal job of smuggler in the past.

The two form a bond that transcends the bigotry that is common in this area.

The performances of all of the small cast is stellar. This low budget underdog is worth the ticket price. Leo deserves the Oscar this time around.

Opinion: Oscar Contender The Wrestler Falls Flat

Mickey Rourke and Marisa Tomei are both up for Academy Awards for “The Wrestler.” This is a movie that either grabs you or it doesn’t.

I have heard some who were got engaged with The Wrestler and others who aren’t as thrilled with the film. I am in the latter group. While there are some touching scenes the movie couldn’t grasp me as in some of the other films that are up for the Oscars.

Rourke does give a convincing performance as a has been. Has been as a father, wrestler and in life. I waited to see a redeeming point, something that would help me feel for the character. Perhaps that was the entire premise but for me it fell flat.

Tomei was convincing as a dancer but I failed to see any true chemistry in the scenes with Rourke.

There are movies though that don’t touch each person that views it. This is one of those.

Opinion: The Dark Knight: A Victory For Ledger?

The Dark Knight is an action packed drama unlike many of the genre. A super hero and a super villain fight it out as people around them die. It was the final full performance for Heath Ledger and one that could garner him an Academy Award.

The question is does his performance honestly deserve the most coveted prize in the industry. The answer in my opinion is no, although his performance was amazing. If Ledger’s daughter Matilda gets the Oscar it may well be in honour of the work her father never had a chance to accomplish.

Ledger’s take on The Joker was haunting and powerful. He was the best Joker in history. He played a charactyer that had a depth that other actors in the past did not go to. His Joker was not comical. He was what he was, a psychopath who toyed with an entire city to play against the head honcho. In that he should be applauded.

Ledger’s last performance was a fitting end to the short career of a brilliant thespian. He lived life to the fullest and his characters were always believable. To be believable in the super hero genre is a feat rarely achieved. Well done, Heath.

Sometimes You Just Know: Reviewing the Film ‘Doubt’

What do you do when you believe someone is doing wrong but have no proof? That is the premise of Oscar nominee “Doubt.” The film is hard hitting with excellent performances by Meryl Streep, Amy Adams and Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Director John Patrick Shanley explores the suspicions and doubts of Sister Aloysius Beauvier, principal of St. Nicholas in the Bronx about Father Flynn. Set in 1964 the film shows the subtle changes undergoing in the church while exploring the possibility of a priest who could be molesting a student.

The questions that arises within the plot leaves viewers searching along side Sister Aloysius for a glimmer of truth. Innocent Sister James struggles also with the same questions with unjaded eyes.

When is moral certainty enough to ‘convict’? The film ends with viewers still thinking about the consequences of those doubts and certainties.

As always Streep is transformed into the character she plays. There is no question of the hard edges, the stern compassion and the fire of righteousness from her Sister Aloysius.

Hoffman is believable as Father Flynn. He’s easy to like and feel for and yet you can’t help but wonder if there is more to the story than what you see.

Sister James is played with just the right amount of innocence and wisdom by Adams.

While only on the scene for brief moments Viola Davis plays to perfection the role of mother Mrs. Miller. Her tears are that of a woman dealing with too many conflicts and love.

Streep, Adams and Davis are all in the running Sunday night for an Oscar.

Opinion: The Law is Narrow in Best Picture Nominee The Reader

To define the meaning of one’s life one must be willing to face the secrets in one’s past. Our secrets can destroy us and those that are touched by us. Our pasts weave through the foundations of all. There lays the quiet beauty of “The Reader.”

Sing to me of the man, muse, the man of twists and turns……..The Odyssey

Director Stephen Daldry’s “The Reader” is powerful in its secrets. The story is woven in twists that bring you to a truth that hammers home.

The words on the page take on a new meaning as the reality of Hanna Schmitz’s early life is revealed. Kate Winslet’s work as the war criminal is a work of art. One can feel for the woman and yet there is a wall drawn that prevents the viewer from truly knowing her. The wall of her shame, not from the crimes she and other guards committed but a more internal shame.

The truth could set one free and yet the truth at times can be the prison one makes for themselves.

When asked in later years if Hanna learned anything from the past her reply is one that is a truth of life.

It doesn’t matter what I feel
It doesn’t matter what I think
The dead are still dead.

The past is the past.

Michael Berg, a young man in love and then a law student watching his former lover on trial is played convincingly by David Kross. His eyes say much more than the words spoken.

The adult Berg, played skillfully by Ralph Fiennes shows how life lived in silence and secrets brings pain.

This is a must see movie. It will tear at your heart but the message is too powerful to miss.

Opinion: ‘Rachel Getting Married’

“Rachel Getting Married” is one of this year’s sneaky films. With the feel of a home movie and hard driven plot it taps you on the shoulder with a soft staying power.

Anne Hathaway’s role as Kym, the black sheep of her family guides the film through the twists that is family.

Rachel, played by Rosemarie Dewitt, is getting married. That ceremony brings sister Kym home on a weekend pass from rehab. As with any family there is pain and love that mingles on the edges of togetherness.

Jonathan Demme’s direction provides a realistic look at one family blending together through the hardships that life brings.

While not as hard hitting as some of this year’s contenders for awards it still is able to bring something to the table. This is a film that will softly tap you on the shoulder and allow for thought of one’s own family struggles and triumphs.

Opinion: A Mother Knows Best in Oscar Contender The Changeling

Clint Eastwood’s film “The Changeling” tells a story that proves fact is stranger and at times more horrifying than fiction. On March 10, 1928 9-year-old Walter Collins vanished.

His mother Christine’s story about her search for her son helped change the history of California.

Christine Collins, played by Angelica Jolie had the moxie to take on the corruption of the Los Angeles Police Dept. when law meant corruption. Her fight for her son and in the end for herself was a story of courage.

After waiting for the standard 24 hours the police started their search for the boy. After following up on many leads a boy claiming to be Walter was found in DeKalb, Illinois. When reunited with the boy Ms. Collins knew he was not her son. The police tried to convince her otherwise.

The Changeling tells the story of how the police department’s had the mother committed to the psychiatric ward at Los Angeles County Hospital under a “Code 12″ internment and the trials of both the department and the man believed to be the murderer of Walter Collins.

Jolie gives a powerful performance as a mother fighting for her son, dead or alive, against police corruption. She is dead on, easily slipping from the face of a loving mother to a force to be reckoned with.

Opinion: The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button

Who hasn’t said that they wouldn’t like to do it all again with the knowledge of time. That theory is played out by Brad Pitt in the movie “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.”

The premise of a child born as an elderly man and then living his life in reverse seems implausible. Pitt’s portrayal though of Benjamin Button is right on the mark.

From the beginnings of a child trapped in an elderly man’s body to the sadness of not remembering a full life as age reverses rapidly plays true to the storyline.

As in all good stories love is a key component to Benjamin Button. Bittersweet as one ages and one goes younger love in this case does carry through from first steps to diapers.

The theme of the movie makes for a true question of one’s life. To be thankful for the way time does pass in a life is something I took away from the viewing.

Benjamin Button is set to be the darling of the Academy Awards with 13 nominations. This is a hard call for me. The acting is good and the story is promising, yet other films also have a huge potential to knock director David Fincher`s work off of the top pedestal.

Opinion: A Man’s Path To A Woman’s Scar: Slumdog Millionaire

The story of Jamal K. Malik in the movie Slumdog Millionaire is as heartrending as it is powerful. Love carries through to the powerful end in a way only true innocence and truth can.

Poverty is a way of life for young Jamal K. Malik in India. Amidst the poverty of Mumbai a young child and the love of his life Latika weave through battles that would fall most adults.

The story is gritty and raw. It carries you to a world where daily horrors are commonplace.

Based on the novel “Q & A” by Vikas Swarup
screenwriter Simon Beaufoy transforms the tragic past of young Jamal into a work of art.

As a game show contestant Jamal, uneducated by conventional standards raises to the highest ranks. His answers come from the bitter realities of his life. Interwoven through the plot is a love so pure and a spirit so brave that it takes your breath away.

Knowing that Jamal’s story is plausible is even more heartbreaking. That children live his life everyday in the slums of India and yet they go on as did Jamal. The movie shows a side of life that most will not live through without the barrier of total sadness. The plight of Jamal, Latika and Jamal`s brother Samil is not a story of ease. Still in Jamal`s eyes one can see the beauty of innocence and beauty that can only be seen through a man of inner strength.

The only crime of Slumdog Millionaire is that Dev Patel was not up for an Academy Award. His performance was stellar. This is one movie that deserves to be watched and then watched again and again.

Opinion: Blood Running In The Gutter- Milk, A Film About Victory

Milk starring Sean Penn is more than just a film, it’s an education of what was and what one group of people, particularly one man, can do to accomplish the impossible. It is worthy of an Oscar nomination.

In the early 1970’s and 1980’s homosexual rights were non-existant. By using aged film and by an art feel the film feels like a documentary.

The film shows the struggle that Harvey Milk faced on his path to political victory. The loves, the challenges and in the end the victories.

The gay movement is well illustrated by Sean Penn’s portrayal of Harvey Milk. From the highs to the complete lows. He is Harvey Milk.

As his chief political opposition, Dan White played by Josh Brolin is riveting.

The break out performance though is a young Clive Jones played by Emile Hirsch. His youthful eyes brings a powerful truth to the film.

Current with today’s political struggles with Prop 8, the story of Prop 6 shows how the past is in actually the present.

While the story is about the gay rights it is really the story of every man. The struggle to overcome odds and in the end see victory.

Milk is a film that should be viewed by everyone, in part for the historical value. The greater part though is the story comes to life with brillant acting. From beginning to end it will grasp you and hold you. The ending will leave you in tears.

“I need a change.”

Milk used his last decade changing the world. That change brought true a prediction that he would not live to be 50. He wanted to give people the hope for a better tomorrow. He achieved that dream.

Who Gets The Statue If Heath Ledger Wins At the Oscars?

On Sunday Heath Ledger could win the Oscar for his role of the Joker in “The Dark Knight.” If he wins the legalities of the statue will be stretched to the limits. When Ledger died last year he was unmarried and his oldest child is now three.

Matilda Ledger is the legal heir of the statue if her father’s name is called Sunday night. Because of her age, though, the statue will not be released to her for 15 years until she’s of legal age.

The Associated Press reports of what the academy has to deal with if Ledger’s the winner of this year’s Supporting male lead category.

“It’s complicated, because there are two different questions that have to be answered,” says Bruce Davis, executive director of the academy. “First, we have to decide who gets the job of accepting the award onstage on the night of the ceremony. And then there’s the question of the eventual disposition of the posthumous statuette, which may not stay with the person who accepts it.”

To accept the Oscar one has to sign a winner’s agreement. That agreement says that a person will not resell the statue without first offering it back to the Academy for a dollar. Matilda Ledger at three can not sign that document. Her mother, Michelle Williams also can’t sign the document in her behalf because it would obligate Matilda to the agreement without her consent.

After discussions with the Ledger family and Michelle Williams an agreement has been reached that for the time period will take care of the problem. If Ledger wins the statue will go to Matilda under her mother’s trust. Williams will sign the document that will end in 15 years and be the legal custodian of the Oscar. If in 15 years Matilda refuses to sign the document the statue will be returned to the Academy at no cost.

As for who will make the acceptance speech? That one is a guarded answer that will come if Ledger wins on Sunday night. That secret and more will be broadcast as they happen Sunday night on Digital Journal.

Opinion: When The Homeless Become The Art

In the big city homeless people are looked down on, the making of a haven, a tent city is not allowed. The art of the street, graffiti is a crime. So how does it become art and tasteful?

Put it in a museum where people pay to see what is now considered beauty when a moment ago it was thought of as trash.

KJ Mullins Housepaint at the ROM 1 vote Vote it up! var imgid = “47403″; <!– if(imgid) djp.votebtn(‘vtimg’+imgid,{ cls:’voteupgreen’,txt:’Vote it up!’}); //–>

At the Royal Ontario Museum there is a special exhibit going on until July 5, 2009 called Housepaint Phase 2: Shelter. It’s a collaboration between 10 street artists to draw attention to the unseen; the poor and the homeless.

KJ Mullins Housepaint at the ROM 2 votes Vote it up! var imgid = “47404″; <!– if(imgid) djp.votebtn(‘vtimg’+imgid,{ cls:’voteupgreen’,txt:’Vote it up!’}); //–>

KJ Mullins Housepaint at the ROM 2 votes Vote it up! var imgid = “47405″; <!– if(imgid) djp.votebtn(‘vtimg’+imgid,{ cls:’voteupgreen’,txt:’Vote it up!’}); //–>

KJ Mullins Housepaint at the ROM 2 votes Vote it up! var imgid = “47406″; <!– if(imgid) djp.votebtn(‘vtimg’+imgid,{ cls:’voteupgreen’,txt:’Vote it up!’}); //–>

The artists remember the former residents of Tent City, a home for about 100 people on the south end of Toronto. They were evicted from the land back in 2002. The land was owned by Home Depot. At the time Jack Layton told the CBC:

KJ Mullins Housepaint at the ROM 3 votes Vote it up! var imgid = “47407″; <!– if(imgid) djp.votebtn(‘vtimg’+imgid,{ cls:’voteupgreen’,txt:’Vote it up!’}); //–>

“As we’ve been pointing out for years, we need some affordable housing built,” said Layton. “At least at Tent City they’d built themselves a warm place for the winter.

KJ Mullins Housepaint at the ROM 2 votes Vote it up! var imgid = “47408″; <!– if(imgid) djp.votebtn(‘vtimg’+imgid,{ cls:’voteupgreen’,txt:’Vote it up!’}); //–>

“Now some of them will likely end up in the streets.”

The homeless still line the streets of downtown Toronto. They are still invisible.

The street artists still decorate the walls of the city. It is illegal.

special permission from photographer Jeff Wyonch street art 3 votes Vote it up! var imgid = “47409″; <!– if(imgid) djp.votebtn(‘vtimg’+imgid,{ cls:’voteupgreen’,txt:’Vote it up!’}); //–>

Now inside the walls of the ROM it is art.

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This is their art. This is our city. They exist. They are a part of our canvas. Let the art speak their words.

The following are pictures from KJ Mullins and photographer Jeff Wyonch who gave me permission to post his work. His pictures are of graffiti which is illegal. My pictures are art, because they are in a museum. The street is our canvas. In more ways than meets the eye.

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special permission from photographer Jeff Wyonch Street art. 2 votes Vote it up! var imgid = “47412″; <!– if(imgid) djp.votebtn(‘vtimg’+imgid,{ cls:’voteupgreen’,txt:’Vote it up!’}); //–>

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special permission from photographer Jeff Wyonch street art 3 votes Vote it up! var imgid = “47414″; <!– if(imgid) djp.votebtn(‘vtimg’+imgid,{ cls:’voteupgreen’,txt:’Vote it up!’}); //–>

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KJ Mullins Housepaint at the ROM the door is locked, you can look through the peephole though to see the names of the homeless that have passed away 3 votes Vote it up! var imgid = “47417″; <!– if(imgid) djp.votebtn(‘vtimg’+imgid,{ cls:’voteupgreen’,txt:’Vote it up!’}); //–>

special permission from photographer Jeff Wyonch

street art

3 votes

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France Will Remove Ads From Prime Time TV

Television viewing has one constant — commercials. In France though that will soon be a thing of the past in the evening. In Canada though those commercials will remain on your television screen.

French television viewers used to sit down in front of the boob tube in the evening to watch the news and then 15 minutes of solid commercials before prime time shows hit the airwaves at 9 p.m. Last week the 15 minute ad time was taken off the air by the five national public broadcasting channels. There will be no further advertising on television after 89 p.m. In 2011 the French public won’t have to deal with commercials at all.

Don’t expect commercials to leave North America though. That all mighty dollar helps produce your favorite shows.

The CBC in fact is looking to increase their ad revenue.

“If we were to drop advertising, it creates an enormous financial problem,” said Richard Stursberg, vice-president of English services. “And my general sense is there’s very little appetite in Canada to increase money to the CBC from government sources.”

French television cites that creativity was being marred by that almighty buck. The audience will not be getting as many blockbuster movies but will have more culture on their screens.

In Canada the audience tends to want what is going on in the States to be on their own televisions. The Globe and Mail reports:

“The difference between English Canada and France is that the French prefer French shows, and here historically they prefer foreign shows and entertainment programs,” he said.

France also has different requirements for programming than Canadian television. At least 70 percent of what is programmed most be European and 50 percent of that programming most come from France itself. A reform bill is underway to make it so the majority of the European programming takes place during prime time.

The BBC airs its programming without ads. That isn’t reason though the French are taking out the ad dollar.

“Look at the BBC. They don’t have commercials. But at the same time, they run shows that would have no place on our stations,” said Alain Belais, director of international relations at the French broadcaster. “Not having advertising doesn’t necessarily mean we won’t be paying attention to programming that attracts an audience,” he added.

That means that the French will not be subjected to hours of reality shows like the Brits are. Just a few hours. Heck, like the silly cousins across the pond are. Of course those silly cousins don’t have the flair that the French have either.

The French debate is conducted in the language of ‘culture’ and ‘creation’ rather than in terms of the audience, where in Britain it’s seen as important that the BBC offers something that appeals to everyone,” said David Levy, director of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford University in London and the only non-French member of the commission that proposed the France Télévisions reform.

Last year the top audience grabbing shows in France’s France 2 was a French movie Camping, Without a Trace, a television movie about a Maupassant story and the French-British rugby match.

In France only 30% of broadcasting budgets come from advertising revenues. The bulk of its $733 million funding comes from a tax of $189 on television sets. The French are also debating on using different sources to fund productions.

France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy wants to start taxing Internet providers and the private TV stations’ ad revenues to help make up that 30 percent that will be lost.

“I think advertisers are going to invest less overall,” said Rémi Babinet, the head of BETC, France’s biggest ad agency. “So there won’t be a transfer of the public television advertising spending to the private channels.”

The CBC is also looking for ways to supplement ad revenue that has been lost due to economic crisis.

“I’ve been in the TV business for a long time and in my life I’ve never seen a fall as precipitous as this one,” said Richard Stursberg, vice-president of English services. “We won’t get more money [from the government] so we’re trying to figure out a smart way through these challenges.”

Studio Brings Music to Texas Cancer Ward

The Purple Songs Can Fly recording studio is set up in an unlikely place, Texas Children’s Hospital. Since March 2006 it has produced 116 songs that may not be mainsteam but do a world of good.

The children at the hospital who deal with life and death have the studio to take their minds off of their everyday troubles. Founder Anita Kruse knows that music’s creative edge can help the kids soar.

The Houston based songwriter raised $10,000 to start Purple Songs. Since then it has been funded by donations. As she told MSNBC the studio gives the kids a creative outlet.

“Seeing someone going through something really difficult let that go, even if it’s just for the moment, it’s beautiful.”

The studio is part of the cancer center’s Arts in Medicine program.

Many of the young patients write about pets or their families like one of the latest recording artists Jalen
Huckabay. Jalen recently recorded a song about her puppy after writing the lyrics with the help of Kruse. Within two hours the pair came up with lyrics and the finished tracks.

Jalen’s works may find airplay like the ones being featured on audio tracks aboard Continental Airlines flights. Some of the children’s work have even made it to space, being played aboard the space shuttle.

New Book ‘Hope Endures’ Shows Another View Of Mother Teresa

There’s a new book out about Mother Teresa by a nun who’s time with the Sisters of Charity was not the virtuous life many envision. Colette Livermore spent 11 years devoted to the poor in India with the order.

In the book Hope Endures Livermore details some of the darker sides of life within the Sisters of Charity.

Livermore gave up a scholarship to study medicine to devote her life to serving God in India. She now lives in New South Wales.

The Courier Mail meet up with the nun turned author and asked her why she choose to become a nun.

“When I was a kid, the Biafran famine was in the news. Kids were dying on the television set in front of you. I thought to myself that this couldn’t be right and then I saw a Mother Teresa film and thought: ‘That’s the way to go! Get out there and do something!’ I was very naive. I didn’t appreciate the implications,” she says.

Livermore learned that the media persona of Mother Teresa differed from the real life woman. According to the nun Mother Teresa required her charges to give up their brain, will and everything. She required total surrender of the person.

Livermore recalls her new life at a tender 18 years old with the order. A new novitate, she dealt with huge changes in her life and world view.

Once you’re within that sort of organization, it’s hard to get your bearings. You’re off balance because Mother Teresa is a saintly person and the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize and all that sort of thing so you think that if you disagree with things, there must be something wrong with you rather than the organisation.

“We did our training and then I was sent to the Gulf province of New Guinea without any warning or preparation and nearly died of cerebral malaria.

“I was there for a few years and then transferred to Manila and worked in a garbage dump looking after people with tuberculosis. I wasn’t even trained to the level of a barefoot doctor.”

Livermore was sent to Calcutta from Manila. Once there she tried and failed to leave the order. She was told that her wanting to leave the order was because of the devil. The order does not allow for radio, newspapers or even conversing with friends. There was little contact even with the young woman’s own family.

She fought against Mother Teresa about helping the sick children on holy days. The practice was not allowed.

A ruling was made that on this recollection day, this day of prayer, children were not to be admitted to the Home for the Children.

“This really sick child came in with stick arms, breathing really fast and dehydrated and I was told he couldn’t stay. I had this internal conflict and eventually the child was admitted but only after I’d had a big fight.

“These sorts of things happened time and time again because there was this rigid obedience and timetable, so I wrote to Calcutta and said: ‘This can’t be right.’

She claims that Mother Teresa said that she should be able to watch the death of a child if she was asked to. That ideal came from the fact that the Virgin Mother watched her son, Jesus die on the cross. Livermore countered the wizened woman with, ‘That’s against the gospel’ and they said that even the devil could quote scripture.”

According to Livermore Mother Teresa was plagued by her own spiritually and that took her to some dark places. She talked of her own inner emptiness and misery.

The young woman’s own mother had been upset when her daughter joined the order. Livermore didn’t tell her mother of her trials during this time period.

“My family wasn’t aware because you weren’t supposed to tell anyone. It was a secret.

“Mum was disappointed I’d thrown away the chance to do medicine because our family struggled. My father had left us and she was struggling to support four kids and for her eldest to take off was hard.”

Livermore finally wrote Mother Teresa telling her she could no longer cope with living in the order at the age of 30. The Mother Superior told her it was the devil trying to rob her of her vocation.

Livermore now says that Mother Teresa’s one sightedness on obedience over compassion was a mistake.

“That’s not something that’s widely known and not part of what the media says about her. It was dictatorial. I should have got out sooner,” she says, shaking her head.

Since leaving the order Livermore has completed her medical degree and has worked in Timor, the Northern Territory, the Congo, Sudan and Darfur. She is no longer Catholic. Her personal faith suffered so much that she now describes herself as agnostic.

In the end Livermore blames only herself for the time she spent in Calcutta.

“After all,” she says, smiling, “no one handcuffed me. It was my own silly choice. My mother told me I was a drongo but once I was in there, I couldn’t get free.

“That’s part of the reason I wrote the book – to tell religious people not to give up that inner compass that they have. You can’t live your life with all these excluding rules.”

Opinion: A Night to Remember, Nuit Blanche 2008 Toronto

Art is a vibrant part of life in Toronto. The streets are filled with talent everyday but one night a year that art is the city. Nuit Blanche was a night long celebration Saturday where art and people collide merging into a kaleidoscope of culture.

From the zombies trudging along Yonge Street to the art of Smashin trash in Liberty Village the downtown of Toronto was filled with life last night. The sidewalks were a traffic jam at times, but considering that that traffic jam represented those that love the world of art it was a pleasant diversion.

A friend and I started at the ‘top’, the University of Toronto. And forgive me for not being able to remember it all, six hours late at night, kilometer after kilometer of walking the busy streets tends to make the nearly old a bit forgetful at the best of times.

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We didn’t see much at the University instead opting to walk through Queen’s Park. There we glimpsed a carnival like side show.

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We watched people setting up tripods and chanting, singing and dancing. We saw life.

Perhaps that is the true element of life, art merging with people who are themselves the art that is merged. We as a collective core make this globe colourful, different. We each are part of the landscape that others can look at and see awe.

From Queen’s Park we strolled to College and Yonge where the Zombies were being made up. Everyday people were allowing themselves to be turned into ghouls complete with a signed film rights statement.

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After making our way to Dundas Square we ventured into Eaton’s Centre where a huge blue plastic thingy was hanging overhead.

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After a check trip to the cash machine we wandered down to Nathan Phillip Square and watched a LED light show.

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A quick side trip for a soda brought us to Scotia Plaza’s tent. The girls there told us to hit up Commerce Court and Union Station. When told there’s cool art I do as I am told.

Commerce Court’s parkette held a cool video performance piece about how stocks and money and news media work. At least that’s what I took from it. I must admit I agreed with the girls, it was well worth the time to absorb. We took a break sitting at the fountain re-watching the show a few times.

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It was time for the Scream show at Union Station. Alas, the line was too long and it was hitting midnight. We decided to grab a subway train to St. Patrick and hit the fare along McCaul Street. We watched drawings being drawn and posted. Browsing through the simple images we reflected on how even the most basic lines were indeed art. Childish doodles and intense pictorials all had their own value. Another light show viewed and we hit Queen Street.

After watching street art including a group we first viewed at Dundas Square, three photographers taking pictures ala paparazzi except only taking pictures of themselves, ( It was one of the more humorous acts and one you had to be there to understand.) we started for the trendy Queen West area.

There are times though that plans change, by Bathhurst Street we were fading fast and yet wanted to see more, merge more into the night. A quick change of plans brought us to Liberty Village on King West. There the most important message of the night stood. The Wish Tree, a Yoko Ono Project in memory of John Lennon. Wishes were written and attached to the sea of trees. From wishing for a date to world peace, wishes of art filled Torontians waved in the breeze.

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We ended our evening a short span from the sea of wishes to watch Smashin! A performance art bit that had computers and TV’s dropping 25 feet to become a sea of smashed trash art below. It was the perfect ending for us. It was lively, it was colourful and it was just plan out fun. And in the end isn’t that what art is. It brings us to life. It changes the colours we see when we look at the crowd. It is fun.

I hope you enjoyed this disjointed tour. And now I am taking a nap. Art is indeed fun but a six hour non-stop absorbing walk is hard on this lady!

I forgot my camera. All images obtained from the kind folks who have uploaded their personal art to FlickR.

Beautiful Music Comes Once More From Violins Abandoned During WWII

Sixteen violins found in Nazi concentration camps and abandoned Jewish communities after WWII are again making music in Jerusalem. Israeli violin maker Ammon Weinstein was behind the repairs of the violins left behind when Jews were taken by the Nazis.

Last evening the strings played again outside the walls of Jerusalem’s Old City. It was the first time that all 16 restored violins joined in perfect unity in public.

The Wednesday night concert began as Weinstein handed each of the restored instruments to the violinist that would be making it sing. The violinist were joined by the Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra and the Symphony Orchestra of Raanana, Israel.

The centerpiece of the event was one of the violins that was owned by 12-year-old Motele, a hero of the war. Montele is said to have hidden his violin in a German compound and used the case to smuggle in explosives that allowed Russian Jewish irregular forces take back their town from the Nazis.

Motele’s violin ended the concert with a 12-year-old playing the Israeli national anthem.

Beautiful Music Comes Once More From Violins Abandoned During WWII

Sixteen violins found in Nazi concentration camps and abandoned Jewish communities after WWII are again making music in Jerusalem. Israeli violin maker Ammon Weinstein was behind the repairs of the violins left behind when Jews were taken by the Nazis.

On Wednesday evening the strings played again outside the walls of Jerusalem’s Old City. It was the first time that all 16 restored violins joined in perfect unity in public.

The Wednesday night concert began as Weinstein handed each of the restored instruments to the violinist that would be making it sing. The violinist were joined by the Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra and the Symphony Orchestra of Raanana, Israel.

The centerpiece of the event was one of the violins that was owned by 12-year-old Motele, a hero of the war. Montele is said to have hidden his violin in a German compound and used the case to smuggle in explosives that allowed Russian Jewish irregular forces take back their town from the Nazis.

Motele’s violin ended the concert with a 12-year-old playing the Israeli national anthem.

Hilter Is Back In Berlin

The Hitler wax figure at Madame Tussaud’s in Berlin has been restored and returned to its display. On opening day the figure had been decapitated by a former policeman who faces charges of causing criminal damage.

The show went on when on Saturday the wax figure was put back in his Berlin bunker display.

Visitors are no longer able to enter the bunker area.

There has been controversy since the museum announced that Hitler would be a feature at the Berlin site. Jewish groups thought that displaying the man behind the murder of six million Jews was in bad taste. The museum would not then nor now bow to pressure to change their plans.

The 41-year-old who cut the head off of the Hitler figure on opening day is facing charges of causing criminal damage and bodily harm for injuring a security guard.

“Infinite Jester” Authot Found Dead From Apparent Suicide

David Foster Wallace, 46, was found dead in his Claremont, California home on Friday. His wife called the police at 9:30 p.m. when she found her husband had hung himself.

We’re not keen on the idea of the story sharing its valence with the reader. But the reader’s own life “outside” the story changes the story.
David Foster Wallace

Wallace’s work showed dark humour and ironic wit. In 1997 he was awarded a MacArthur “genius” grant. That was the same year he penned “Infinite Jest.” Other favorites that the novelist wrote are “Girl with Curious Hair” and “Brief Interviews with Hideous Men.”

Wallace was teaching writing at Pomona College.

He was born in Ithaca, New York.

Giant Turd Damages Children’s Home In Berne

American artist Paul McCarthy’s giant inflatable dog turd may have been thought to be a piece of art but when a storm sent it flying from a Swiss museum it wrecked havoc.

The safety system that should have deflated the exhibit, Complex Shit, failed to deflate during a storm on July 31. The director of the Paul Klee centre in Berne,Switzerland, Juri Steiner, told the AFP a sudden gust of wind carried the giant turd 200 metres before falling to the ground.

A local children’s home had a broken window and power lines were brought down from the falling art piece.

McCarthy had yet to be contacted. It is not certain if the exhibit will be put back on display. It had been scheduled to be on display until October.

Canadian TV Finds Success South Of The Border

Americans are tuning into Canadian productions airing in the States in record droves. “Flashpoint” aired on both CBS and CTV July 11 gaining a quick ratings lead.

Although some critics have panned the series as a cookie cutter format and a rip-off of American cop shows the TV viewer seems not to be listening. The first episode was the most watched show of the night in the U.S. and has continued to win the top seat for its time slot each week.

“It felt to me like there was some resistance to ‘Flashpoint’ going into the CBS prime time schedule and that seemed to be written between the lines of some of the reviews,” says “Flashpoint” exec producer Bill Mustos. “But I feel that’s going away because audiences in North America seem to be responding to the show.”

Last fall “Corner Gas” started airing in the states on WGN and “Kenny vs. Spenny” is on Comedy Central.

More shows will be skipping their way past the border guards this fall. Arnie Gelbart, president of Galafilm, believes that Canada has improved its writing, directing and shows in the past ten years making the leap to the United States media market more plausible than ever before.

Last year as American writers went on strike the lure of the Great White North’s media edge came into play. Americans found out what Canadians knew all along, our shows are well worth the time spent sitting in front of the boob tube.

This fall Americans will be treated to some new shows that will start on both sides of the border at the same time. Both “The Listener,” a drama about a Toronto paramedic with telepathic powers, coming to NBC next season; and Montreal-shot sitcom “Sophie” will be giving viewers something to think about.

“It’s the shot-in-the-arm that the Canadian production community needed,” Mustos says. “It really might be the dawning of a new era. There was a real doom-and-gloom attitude, but it really does feel like this last year has given people hope that they can play on the world stage.”

Opinion: Pastor Phelps Comes To Toronto To Protest Play

Pastor Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church is in Toronto tonight protesting a play at The Cameron House titled “The Pastor Phelps Project.”

The play is set to open on Thursday on Queen West. The play is sure to get a rise out of those who attend. Directed by Alistair Newton this is not a play to take the kiddies to, there will be mature language and nudity.

Warning! Bible preaching ahead! Pastor Fred Phelps and the good people of the Westboro Baptist Church are here to explain why God hates fags and America is doomed. It’s homophobia versus burlesque in a musical cabaret showdown. Stare into the abyss of fundamentalism; sexy political satire with razor wire barbs.

Having Phelps come to Toronto to picket the play isn’t surprising. Some of the actors are a bit nervous that the infamous church will be on hand tomorrow night.

They’re a group of people who bring so much hate everywhere they go,” said Carey, an actor in the play. “So bringing them to Toronto makes me nervous.”

While Phelps can not possibly have seen the play he has already made his opinion known. It isn’t likely he will be giving it a two thumbs up.

“‘The Pastor Phelps Project’ is a tacky bit of filthy sodomite propaganda, with no literary merit and zero redeeming social value, masquerading as legitimate theatre,” read a statement on his website. “God hates Canada… land of the sodomites.”

Oh goodie, Phelps has decreed that God hates Canada. I wonder if he has a special call plan with God to let him know of all those that the man upstairs hates?

Minutes After Opening Doors Berlin’s Madame Tussuad’s Museum Hitler Display Destroyed

It took minutes for someone to destroy the Hitler wax figure at the new Madame Tussuad’s museum in Berlin. A 41-year-old German man ripped the head off of the figure that had taken four months to create.

As the first customers started coming through the day on opening day a man rushed the security guards to make his destructive protest of the exhibit.

Many had criticized that having Hitler in the museum was in bad taste. The War World Two dictator is a part of German history that many in the nation would prefer to forget. In Germany it is even illegal to show Nazi symbols and any art glorifying Hitler. Because of those laws the exhibit was cordoned off to make sure that no visitors would posed with the figure.

Artists with Madame Tussuad’s had spent four painstaking months creating the exhibit. Creating the wax figure 25 workers used over 2,000 pictures and a model of the “Fuehreer” that is in the London branch of the museum. It figured Hitler sitting in a mock bunker during the last days of his life.

The museum had placed signs around the exhibit for guests not to take photos or pose with Hitler “out of respect for the millions of people who died during World War Two”. Cameras were set up to capture any inappropriate behavior and put a quick stop to it.

In the end all the security measures proved void.

The man was arrested.

The Fringe 2008: A Hit Show Must See ‘Casa De Los Fantasmas’

Returning for the 20th year The Fringe 2008 will hit Toronto from July 2 until July 13. One of the must see shows this year is Casa De Los Fantasmas: The Golden Age of Radio Returns brought to you by The Canadian Space Opera Company.

With 148 productions this year being held during The Fringe in Toronto it may be hard to pick and choice just which productions to include on your must see list. One of those shows though should include Casa De Los Fantasmas by The Canadian Space Opera Company. Quite fitting the production is being held at the U of T campus radio station CIUT.

The Canadian Space Opera Company does a take on the classic radio theater like nobody else. Taking you to a different era your host The Closet Case allows you to go back in time to experience a hilariously eerie program.

When newlyweds Duke and Emily Dane honeymoon at the luxurious Hacienda De La Hoya in remote Argentina they get to experience the beginning of their blissful marriage until the rude interruptions of hotel guests start to die off. What will be their fate?

With some of Toronto’s best improv artists the cast delights their audience from start to finish. The cast includes Nike Abbott, Sam Agro, Paul Koster, Jorge Moreira, Rhonda Riche, Tracy Shea-Porter, Dave Till, Scott Watkins, Cary West and music by Jeff B. Santos.
The Canadian Space Opera Company was founded in 2004. Veterans of the Toronto comedy and improv scene the company members know their stuff.

The play was first seen in Toronto at The Bad Dog Theatre which Now magazine calls “the improv club” of Toronto. I was lucky enough to be able to attend it at that time and ended up with laughter pains. The entire cast worked the play to perfection taking the viewer back to the Golden Age of radio.

If you only have space on your play card this year for one comedy Casa De Los Fantasmas is the one not to miss.

Madame Tussauds Will Include Hitler At Berlin Museum

The mayor of Berlin Klaus Wowereit had asked Mamade Tussauds to reconsider a planned Hitler display in its new Berlin museum. The museum is standing firm saying that leaving Hitler out would not make sense when it comes to his role in German history.

The museum has issued a statement about Hitler’s rule in Germany:

“stands for an important, though also appalling, turning point in the development of modern Europe.”

“To ignore Hitler’s role in this era would allow a strange gap to develop in the German and Berlin history that we show from (19th century chancellor Otto von) Bismarck to the present day,” the museum added, stressing that Madame Tussauds is “nonpolitical.”

Opening July 9,2008 Madame Tussauds Berlin will feature prominent Germans including Hitler and Albert Einstein who fled Germany before Hitler took power in 1933.

The Hitler display will present the ruler as he looked shortly before his 1945 suicide. He will not be glorified in the display and will remain behind glass to prevent visitors have having a picture taken with the Nazi leader.

Stephan Kramer, general secretary of Germany’s Central Council of Jews said that the figure of Hitler must have information on the man and the Nazi era with it. He hopes that the exhibit will help “demystify” the man.

“Trying to erase Hitler from history doesn’t work and is counterproductive,” he said.

The Music Copyright Society of Kenya Celebrates First Year

In only one year of operation The Music Copyright Society of Kenya has seen music users obtaining licences and royalties for their works. Their membership has grown from just 400 a year ago to 1,300 today.

In the past businesses didn’t know that they should have a licence to play music. MCSK has set about educating the public for that need and by doing so has been able to help artists have addition income.

“The problem has been that music users have not been aware of their obligation to get the licence for the use of music,” vice-chairman Tom K’Odiyo said. “Many people were surprised, but are now more than willing to pay up.”

By going to businesses the group has seen their members receive a “general collection” of Sh6,000 each. That collection was given to even members whose music had not been played on broadcasting stations.

Getting broadcasting stations to pay for the music they are playing has allowed MCSK to collect about Sh60 million in a year.

The organisation’s biggest achievement though is the campaign to bring a new generation of musical artists on board. In the past year Ambassadors of MCSK has seen young artists including genge star Jua Cali, rapper Nonini, Nameless, Amani and Nyota Ndogo, Fundi Frank, Iddi Achieng, Esther Wahome and Jemimah Thiongo shine.

Iddi adds: “As ambassadors of MCSK, we are the ones who go out there and reassure music users that the money they pay for using out music gets to us.”

Another highlight this year is seeing local stations playing music of the nation’s artists more than in the past.

“The licence is renewable every year, and any other organisation, including Namcos, is free to apply when the times comes. We have done our job fairly and musicians all over the country are our witnesses,” says veteran musician Joseph Kamaru, one of MCSK’s directors.

Children’s Programming Needs To Be Protected, Advocacy Group Tells CRTC

Some of the best of Canadian television programming takes place on children’s shows. No longer is Canadian kids TV just for the kids of the Great White North as in the days of “Mr. Dressup” and “The Friendly Giants.”

Today’s children’s programming is seen worldwide and gaining more fans every season. The Shaw Rocket Fund, a private, not-for-profit corporation provides millions in funding wants the CRTC to protect the venue as it spreads through the world.

“We have a responsibility as a country to ensure that our kids are able to see programming that represents Canada and Canadian values and Canadian sensibilities,” Agnes Augustin, president of the Shaw Rocket Fund, said in a recent interview from Calgary.

In the past eight years the Rocket Fund has given Canadian-produced kids and family programs about $96 million. “Degrassi: The Next Generation,” “Ghost Trackers” and “Heartland” have all benefited from the funding.

The fund supply comes almost entirely from Calgary-based Shaw Communications. The cable giant is arguing with the CRTC to open up the market so that it can meet the demands of subscribers who want American super channels HBO and the like.

In Canada kids watch mostly Canadian television, gaining an appreciation for programming that comes from within the nation.

“If kids are watching Canadian programming and learn to appreciate Canadian television when they’re children, then they’ll likely watch Canadian programming when they’re adults as well,” she said.

The key issue in front of CRTC is genre protection, which the Writers Guild of Canada insists children’s programming in particular needs. Genre protection shields Canadian specialty channels, including the Food Network and TSN from competition from foreign and Canadian competition.
Without genre protection children’s programming could seriously be jeopardized. YTV, Teletoon and Family are all Canadian shows. If foreign channels, particularly American channels were introduced these shows could suffer.

“Given the lack of children’s programming on the conventional networks and particularly CTV and Global, it is essential to Canada’s children and youth that genre exclusivity continues to support a strong children’s programming industry,” the guild’s submission said.

The same points are expected to be made by the Alliance for Children and Television later next week when they meet with CRTC.

In the past four years Canadian children’s programming has taken off and become valued in other markets.

“Canadian children’s programming is among the most respected in the world,” Augustin says. “The networks have their positions and the cable companies have their positions on what the CRTC should do, but our position is simply this: there must be enough funding and enough Canadian programming available to our kids.”

Could Canada’s Bill C-10 Derail New Productions For Fear of Censorship?

Parliment was treated to a host of Canada’s entertainment best and brightest today. The members of the entertainment industry were there to denounce a federal bill they have deemed nothing more than censorship.

The Bill C-10 could force Canadian productions out of the country due to tax credits being denied if the film or television production was deemed offensive.

“Any whiff of censorship is chilling for us,” actress Sarah Polley told a news conference before the Senate hearing.

“It’s the job of artists to provoke and to challenge. Part of the responsibility of being an artist is to create work that will inspire dialogue, suggest that people examine their long-held positions and, yes, occasionally offend in order to do so.”

At this time producers apply for a bank loan for the production of the film or television program. When the production is complete it may qualify for a government if it meets Canadian content rules.

The new ruling would give the government the power to revoke credits if they deem the project unacceptable. Those in the industry fear that this change could change the way banking institutions would react to new productions.

Other than India and the United States artists rely on public money. Taking away those funds could change the Canadian voice.

“When censorship, historically, has ever been introduced – and always with the best of intentions – it never goes right,” actress Wendy Crewson said.

“We do not want to open that gate in any capacity, under any government.”

The Hobbit Fetches Record Price At Auctio

One of the few first edition “The Hobbit” novels has sold for a record 60,000 at auction Tuesday in London. The sale by auctioneers Bonhams said the novel was signed by Tolkien and dedicated to close friend Elaine Griffiths.

Griffiths had read the transcript of the story that Tolkien had written for his children convincing him to publish. It was published in 1937 and featured black and white sketches.

Only 1,500 copies of the first edition were run.

The story is expected to be turned into a Hollywood film.

Rewriting The Bible Manga Style

Manga is a popular style of Japanese comic book. The Bible is one of the oldest books around. Ajinbayo Akinsiku better known as “Siku” in the manga world decided to merge the two.

The Nigerian educated artist has just penned and illustrated The Manga Bible: From Genesis to Revelation. The new version is 200 pages depicting a world full of chaos, corruption and crazed prophets. There’s a super hero element to this new retelling of the religious book, Jesus Christ.

Siku hopes that his version of the Bible will re-educate the younger generation that hasn’t attended Sunday School like he did as a child.

“These stories are still relevant,” he says. “The people in these stories are just like you and I. They have the same passions, same weaknesses and same strengths.”

The 42 year old British artist is a believer. He attended theology school and hopes to become an Anglican priest.

New Book Reveals Details on Founding Fathers’ Religious Beliefs

A new book out by Rev. Gary Kowalski paints a different religious picture of the Founding Fathers than many have envisioned. The book gives well-rounded insight as to the honest beliefs of these men.

Kowalski’s fifth book Revolutionary Spirits: The Enlightened Faith of America’s Founding Fathers points out that the first leaders of the U.S. were neither devout Christians not secularists.

As USA Today reports:

“I wanted to set the record straight,” said Kowalski, 54, senior minister at the First Unitarian Universalist Society in Burlington, Vt. “I really felt that their legacy had been misappropriated by the religious right.”

The Reverend searched through authoritative biographies and personally written original documents of each of the men in question to find the truth instead of the myths that are commonly held.

What Kowalski found was one core belief that all of the fathers behind the start of the United States held and that was they wanted the nation to be inclusive for all religions. They also appear to have been fascinated by the scientific discoveries that happened during their lifetimes. What they did not hold in common were their personal religious backgrounds.

Many of the founders had a unique brand of spirituality. As USA Today reports:

“I think they would be surprised at how much our political leaders advertise their religious beliefs,” Kowalski said, “as well as the preponderance of evangelicalism in the country today.”

Kowalski’s research also revealed that these men used reason when dealing with the sermons on Christianity. They were at times wary of the messages that came from the pulpit.

Benjamin Franklin used his art of writing when it came to his thoughts on the Puritan-led witch burning. He penned a satirical story about the matter for the Pennsylvania Gazette to expose the silliness of such beliefs.

George Washington was once arrested for traveling on the Sabbath. He was running behind schedule and wasn’t in church.

While the final research Kowalski shows the men whose views and actions started the country were not secularists they were not devote church goers either. They all had their own faiths and beliefs. They had wished for a nation that like them could believe in the particular faith of their own choosing.

As USA Today reports:

“I think they would be very pleased by the spiritual diversity in our country today,” Kowalski said. “With greater diversity, there’s less chance for one religion to become too powerful.”

The Writers Strike Could Be Nearing An End

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There seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel for the Hollywood writers strike but is it too little and too late? It has been over four months since Hollywood writers used their talents and in that time the business has survived.

With other markets opening up could the writers be on the outside of the door when the strike does end?

Formal negotiations between television and movie writers and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers have almost been completed. The formal paperwork has yet to be dotted and lined but if that goes well then the Writers Guild of America West and Writers Guild of America East may have contracts to sign by the end of the week.

Behind closed doors on Friday a breakthrough may have occurred. If the contract does hit the tables next week, it will still need to be ratified by majority of the active guild members. Hopefully the more than 10,000 members will like the agreement.

Since the strike started on Nov. 5, talks have started only to be broken off over and over again. The strike is over money. The money that comes from residuals that others in the Hollywood biz get and that the writers don’t.

The Hollywood side had Robert A. Iger, chief executive of the Walt Disney Company; Peter Chernin, president of the News Corporation; Leslie Moonves, chief executive of CBS Corp in their corner during Friday’s meeting with Patric M. Verrone, the president of the West Coast guild; David J. Young, its executive director; and John Bowman, who headed the guilds’ negotiating committee and Alan Wertheimer, a prominent entertainment attorney sitting in for the writers’ side.

Once this strike is over, though, Hollywood may soon be in the midst of another. Next round may very well be the Screen Actors Guild. That guild’s contract ends June 30.

If the actors strike, it could mean an end for the Hollywood that most of us grew up with. The big companies may throw up their hands and allow for the works of others to replace Hollywood. “Hollywood North” is waiting in the wings to be the next best thing.

Bif Naked Announces That She Has Breast Cancer

Canadian rocker Bif Naked just revealed that she has breast cancer. The native of Vqancouver was diagnosed two weeks ago. She made the announcement on the syndicated radio program “The Strombo Show” on Sunday.

The 36 year old singer whose real name is Beth Torbert found the lump herself two weeks ago and went straight to the doctor. Surgery is scheduled for this week with radiation and chemotherphy forwarding.

She was upbeat and very positive during the interview with George Stroumboulopoulos Sunday afternoon.

Torbert is a Juno Award winner. She has been married to sports columnist Ian Walker for three months.

Update On Free Tribute Concert For Oscar Peterson

There will be no tickets for the Oscar Peterson concert on Jan. 12 at Roy Thomson Hall. The 90 minute tribute to the jazz great will be treated as a church service. The doors will open at 3 p.m. for the 4 p.m. program.

In the past tickets to free events have had negative consequences. Tickets handed out and then empty seating during the show. That happened with the tribute to Richard Bradshaw as the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. There were thousands of opera lovers who were denied the chance to attend because they didn’t have a ticket and yet many seats were left empty.

For the Peterson event there will be seating for 2,300 after 200 seats that are already reserved for VIP guests. CBC will also be broadcasting the concert for those who can not make it to the showing at 4 p.m. on Radio One and at 8 p.m. on Radio Two.

Already the talent lineup is impressive. So far the tribute will include Sharon Riley & Faith Chorale, the Nathaniel Dett Chorale, and the University of Toronto Gospel Choir, as well as previously announced Measha Brueggergosman.

The TD Canada Trust has also signed on as a sponsor of the event.

He May Not Be Superman But James Clowney Is Still A Hero

“Unicycle Duo” is an act in Cirque du Soleil’s travelling show Kooza. – Photo by Olivier Samson Arcand, costume by Marie-Chantale Vaillancourt

James Clowney,35, is a spotter for the Cirque du Soleil. Last week as a member of the troupe plunged 12 metres Clowney moved quickly to catch the fallen acrobat. When Yannick Blackburn missed his mark as he jumped from a platform the audience gasped.

Blackburn was performing a “Russian swing act” when the accident occured. Thankfully his spotter Clowney was on the ball catching him in the nick of time.

Blackburn walked away without an injury. Clowney on the other hand wasn’t as lucky. His femur and ankle were broken. The New York resident will have to have surgery on his knee also. The humble hero though says the stay in the hospital is a small price to pay compared to the life of his colleague.

“For him (Blackburn), I might be a hero, but he knew he could count on me,” Clowney said.

The performance of “Saltimbanco,” playing at Montreal’s Bell Centre was interrupted for about 20 minutes while Clowney recieved medical attention.

Christian Group Seeks Blasphemy Charge Against BBC

In the 17th century the charge of blasphemy was a common offense. A Christian group is now trying to use the law to prosecute the producer and broadcaster of Jerry Springer – The Opera .

Once refused the group is seeking the high court of London to hear the case according to a Guardian report.

They sought to bring the charge of blasphemous libel against Mark Thompson, the director general of the BBC, and Jonathan Thoday, producer of the award-winning musical. The City of Westminster magistrates court refused permission for the group to bring about the suit. If the high court allows for the suit to be heard the two men could face a sentence of life imprisonment if they were to be convicted.

Paul Stevens of the Olswang law firm is representing Thoday. He will argue that allowing the charge of blasphemy would cross with the article 10 of the European convention on human rights. Simply put the charges goes against the right to free speech.

In 2005 the national director of the Christian Voice, Stephen Green said that the opera portrayed Christ as a “coprophiliac sexual deviant”.

The opera was based on the American TV show Jerry Springer. The opera was first performed in Edinburgh at the Edinburgh Festival in 2002. In 2003 the opera moved to the National Theatre and then to the West End. In 2005 the BBC televised the show. The televised version is what the group is after.

Da Vinci’s Last Supper Could Hold Musical Code

The Da Vinci code may exist in a way. According to Giovanni Maria Pala there’s a sombre composition written into the famed “Last Supper” painting. The painting shows the last meal that Jesus had before one of his disciples betrayed him.

Pala is a Italian musician and computer technician who began to study the painting in 2003 after hearing on the news that it was thought by researchers that the famed Renaissance man had hidden a musical composition within the artwork.

It sounds like a requiem,” Giovanni Maria Pala said. “It’s like a soundtrack that emphasizes the passion of Jesus.”
Afterward, I didn’t hear anything more about it,” he said in an interview with The Associated Press. “As a musician, I wanted to dig deeper.”

The Italian man looked into every element of the painting trying to find clues that could lead him to a musical discovery. Pala first drew the five lines of a musical staff across the painting noting that the the loaves of bread on the table as well as the hands of Jesus and the Apostles could each represent a different musical note. To Pala this made perfect sense as the bread is a symbol of the Church yet the notes made no musical sense. That was before he remembered that Da Vinci’s style was the opposite of the rest of the world. Pala read the notes backwards and found that in fact there was a melody hidden in the bread and Apostles.

His discovery became his book, “La Musica Celata”.

The music is a 40 second long prayer to God according to Pala. It sounds best played on a pipe organ which was the most popular of the time period that it was written if it is indeed a message long left by Da Vinci.

The theory is plausible according to Da Vinci’s researcher Alessandro Vezzosi.

“There’s always a risk of seeing something that is not there, but it’s certain that the spaces (in the painting) are divided harmonically,” he said. “Where you have harmonic proportions, you can find music.”

Pala believes that Da Vinci’s painting and the music within proves that he was a man who loved God.

“A new figure emerges: he wasn’t a heretic like some believe,” Pala said. “What emerges is a man who believes, a man who really believes in God.”

Op-Ed: Has Television Made Gay Lifestyle More Acceptable?

Has the use of gay characters on television helped with the social landscaping of homosexuality? Would actors who out themselves be less received without the trend of gay characters on the boob tube?

Back in 1977 “Soap” really started the ball rolling with a much loved gay character played by the talented Billy Crystal. His character was one of the more realistic in a cartoonish show. While the fact he was gay was prominent it didn’t derail that the character was a good guy or one of the kinder members of the show’s ensemble.

The character was played by a heterosexual male and that perhaps helped make it acceptable at the time period.

Today it’s just as common to have a gay man playing a straight character and visa versa. The world of television seems to shape the mores of society at a quicker pace than any other current medium.

The gay community is large and diverse and increasingly multigenerational, and as that becomes truer, I think we’ll see more diversity on TV and a move from stereotypical things to less stereotypical things, as there’s more diversity to choose from.

Damon Romine is the entertainment media director for GLAAD.

Society is becoming more accepting of those with different sexual orientations. There are still fragments though that are not as accepting which leads to hate. By using a medium like television though those pockets can perhaps be educated that tolerance is the answer even when one does not approve of a lifestyle.

Although not all will agree with this thought pattern.

We have not seen any what I would consider honest portrayals of the homosexual lifestyle on television in at least 20 years.

The gays consistently are portrayed as the loyal friend, the most self-sacrificing person, even the most morally upstanding person. So the public is getting this constant picture of gay life as something exemplary.

Robert Knight is director of the Culture and Family Institute.

Shows often reflect real life. Ellen DeGeneres came out of the closet on her series “Ellen” in 1997.

Although much has improved in the rights of gays more still needs to be done. In Hollywood there are still taboos which causes some to remain in the closet.

Some say the key to creating more awareness and acceptance of gays and lesbians lies in getting gay actors to open the closet door. “We have all these gay shows but how many actors have come out? …When that doesn’t need to have to happen, that’s when we have achieved something,” says Michael Lumpkin.

Today’s shows though depict their gay characters in more realistic light than in the past. At some point we won’t even comment on the casting of sexual orientation.

Society will have evolved to tolerance.

Listening To William Gibson

September 21, 2007 saw another installment of This Is Not A Reading Series featuring William Gibson at Bloor St. United Church in downtown Toronto. The pews were filled waiting for a revolutionary author to share wisdom on his craft.

Hosted by Mark Askwith the evening was a rare one when the words of an author and the process of writing a novel were on the forefront.

Mr. Gibson entered the stage wearing khakis and a black long sleeve shirt, his black lace up sneakers belying the age of this famed author of nine novels.

The Virginia born author came to Canada to avoid being drafted into the military during the Vietnam War in 1967. He currently resides in the Vancouver area.

His latest science fiction novel is entitled Spook Country. Tonight the book could be purchased at the venue. Gibson is known for his cyber-punk method of weaving a story that captivates his audiences.

He related that when he reads to a crowd the first time it’s like he’s reading his novels for the very first time. Tonight he read the fourth chapter to an entranced audience.

“Writing springs from Zeus- that hasn’t been the case for me.”

Gibson talked about sitting in front of his computer waiting for the words to come as he prepares to write a novel. Google is generally on his screen while he writes and erases and writes again.

When I discovered what was in the box it was a lovely day for me in the basement.”

He told the audience that when he starts the writing process he isn’t always sure what will happen. He enjoys it when things start to form together delighted with the revelations that he gets while a novel is being worked out.

He described his love for both Google, “What’s a little Google” and E-Bay.

He liken Google to a the beginning of a universal prosthetic brain. The web site helps him with his writing by offering so much information at his fingertips. Considering all the research he needs for his novels it’s a handy little tool that he readily uses.

If it disappeared tomorrow you would miss your Google.

One instance that Google helped was when his current novel should have been two days into publishing. He was informed that GPS can not locate a person through walls. He had a day to fix that portion of his story. Google and his own wry intelligence saved the day.

As for E-Bay he has a boyish love and fascination for the web auction house saying that you could become someone’s worst nightmare with the buying. When asked what his current wants on the site were he laughed and said he wasn’t telling so no one else would get it.

He goes to the site everyday and misses when he could check out what others were bidding on. He also uses E-Bay to JPEG toys that he had when he was a kid. Of course his childhood toys are items he doesn’t bid on. It’s be too creepy.

Books are the oldest mass media. We’re still making wheels-making books until we come up with something better.

Using the wheel analogy for marking those black marks on a page that draws people’s interest to read Gibson gave praise to the creativeness of readers. No one reader reads the same book because of the internal visualizations that their personal views bring out.

While two of his short stories have made it to film including Johnny Mnemonic starring fellow Canadian Keanu Reeves, Gibson thinks much of his work is too visible to adapt into screenplay. He simply describes the surroundings too clearly.

To him reading and writing novels are very formal medium. Blogging is more one on one than a novel where one “falls into a good book like a warm bath.”

While many perceive science fiction as futuristic Gibson thinks that using the genre in the present time period works well. His last two novels show that idea. Spook Country is written present day.

Some of his novels during the 1980’s seemed to have warnings mingled into the themes. The cold war with Russia and the United States and a fear of no real future seemed to be a part of science fiction of that time. Gibson stated that he thought a world corporation could easily take the place of government because it was bad for business.

He doesn’t think his characters are well rounded enough to see people emulating them. He’s still working on that.

As wonderful as life is a fair bit of it is creepy.”

Those words sum up Gibson’s writings. He writes about a world that needs a happy ending even with it’s seedy underbelly. It’s part of his reality.