Loaded up my mp3 player of choice with some tunes and came across a reunion tour of epic proportions. SWERVEDRIVER are touring after a 10 year pause. So happy that they will be playing Toronto!!! Ah, but not until June 13th (at Lee’s Palace)…
Never lose that feeling…
This is not strictly Toronto news, especially as jPod is set in Vancouver, but I received a comment on my blog from “Kam Fong” that jPod is being cancelled, which I wanted to share with you all here. I have to say I’m really surprised at this news. I had found the show rather addictive and thought it was coming into its own.
With the dearth of Canadian programming, and with CBC launching an all-out assault in January to grab Canadian eyes for Canadian shows that employ Canadians, I would have thought they would at least give all the shows a decent time to build an audience. After all, don’t they say Seinfeld was so-so in the ratings the entire first year of its run?
Read what the actor has to say and if you want jPod back, give that phone number a ring or shoot off an e-mail to CBC. We really need an alternative to all that reality dreck and the drowning of our airwaves in foreign shows, that is, American programming.
It’s hard to believe that this large geographical feature in the east end of Toronto was built by a long line of trucks dumping clean rubble from various construction sites around the city. Since it was just a pile of fill, nature has slowly but tenaciously taken over and created a green space at the bottom of our city.
It has become a favourite place for birders, and remarkably, one can find exotic plant life there as well, plants such as cacti. In the cold days of winter, it seems hard to believe that this bleak place harbours so much life. But even when the wind blows snow across this headland, colloquially called the “Leslie Street Spit,” birds gather to sing and feed. And birders and photographers gather to watch and shoot.
One of my favourite times for live Music in the city is here. CANADIAN MUSIC WEEK! Ah but work, school and life conflicts will mean I will miss all of this years shows. Such is life (even when I’ve busted out hard cash for a wristband to catch the action during the fest)…
Well if I can’t see some of my favourites like Julie Doiron, The Besnard Lakes, Sloan or The Breeders I can only encourage you NOT to do the same.
Of course there are 500 Canadian and International artists playing at 41 venues in the city. Best pick at least one and hang on for the ride. You may not get back in if you leave. Trust me.
Not sure where to start? My choice picks during the CMW (that I have to miss…GRRR… but you don’t) are Burlington’s Saint Alvia Cartel, Montreal’s SoCalled, Raised by Swans, Volcanoless in Canada, Toronto’s own Colin Munroe, and Grand Analog. Even Jenny Omnichord (just because I miss Lederhosen Lucil)…
Canadian Music Week - March 5th - 8th
Like the advent of the CD and DVD, HDTV promises to surpass the sound, resolution and clarity of its predecessor, traditional analog TV. Ah but quality is a matter of personal taste. The sorry state of most Pop music’s one hit wonders are recorded in pristine digital surround on hundreds of tracks vs. the Beatles catalogue recorded on tape (for the most part using 4 Tracks!). A case of SONGWRITING over studio auto-tuning, reverb and effects.
Day by day we creep closer to the rabbit ear doomsday. In 2011 , well August 31, 2011 to be exact, analog over-the-air broadcasts will be shut off and replaced by digital TV. Is the sky really falling that fast? Are the estimated three million Canadians that still rely on rabbit ears or other antenna for their TV signals doomed? The average Joe and Jane have more than 3 years of Survivor, American Gladiators and other quality educational programing to lust over in inferior analog bliss. What are they thinking?
Will the government subsidize set boxes or will the TV be shut off forever? Will free TV go the way of the the dodo? I think more of the later will be true. People are more prone to turn off than tune in. More and more people are programing their own entertainment. YouTube, the local video store, or personal content (home video/digital cameras are taking off these days even on cell phones!). Writers strikes and reality TV overload are making more and more people ditch the TV habit. Low budget straight to DVD movies are not exactly packing the theatres right? Sure there are those who spend more than $4,000 to sit on their butts and watch TV or spend $50 for a night at the movies but this is not the majority.
The bidding war is officially on as Toronto business big wig John Bitove has already proposed a plan to kick off a station. My guess is that it will be all for nothing (or nearly nothing).
TV becomes irrelevant more and more each day. Google was smart to gobble up YouTube. Yahoo would be a sweet take over for Microsoft as they would grab Flickr. The next wave of media appears to be self created media. Doesn’t fair well for TV. What? I can hear you over my radio…LoL
It’s not often one sees Toronto portrayed as Toronto in television — although that’s radically starting to change this season — even less so historical Toronto. I’m a fan of Maureen Jennings’ mystery series, featuring Detective William Murdoch of the Toronto Police or Constabulary. But although I was a fan, I wasn’t sure how many were interested in reading about the personal foibles and professional successes of a Toronto detective in the 19th century. Apparently, so many that there’s now a television series, starring a veteran Canadian television actor, and the premiere went off with a bang.
In the series, so far, Murdoch doesn’t have a repressed and steaming personal life as he does in the novels; instead his constable has one. He does have to fight the non-scientific minds on the force, but he’s not nearly as isolated as in the books, nor is he viewed with derision. It’s light fare. Yet it’s also a good old-fashioned mystery. Old-fashioned as in a real mystery, requiring the use of one’s little grey cells, not drowned in forensic technobabble, moody lighting, and sexified music. It has ingenious camera work that doesn’t nauseate. In short, it’s a breath of fresh air and a real tonic to CSI.
The only question I have is how on earth did they replicate 19th century Toronto beyond the usual location, given that the city’s politicians have rubber stamped the destruction of so many historical buildings. And what they didn’t rubberstamp, the OMB forced on us. Well, at least we can see what Toronto used to be like through the lens of this series.
The debate rages over the viability of hard goods in the age of digital downloads. Radiohead have always been very vocal about social and consumer issues despite their involvement with a major record labels. They started work on their 7th album, their first album after their stint with EMI, back in 2005 and released it as a digital download back in October this year.
Radiohead’s site for the album allows fans a choice to buy the album in physical form or as a download for a Pay-What-You-Can price. The physical version is a deluxe edition in both vinyl and CD (for 40 GBP - that’s British Pounds - about $80). Most people I assume went with FREE though there are some that will pay for the album (either pay something for the download while the superfan would get the digital version right away and wait for the 2 CD + 2 Vinyl in the mail).
The results are mixed thus far. The ComScore study found that some people WOULD pay something, even for the digital download. (not much less than what you pay at a local store or iTunes for an album). Some charts refuse to list the album and sales siting that people can get it free so there are “no sales” to count. Despite that the album has had worldwide airplay on the radio. Rolling Stone gave it rave reviews too. Perhaps the “real money” will be made on tour as Radiohead tend to pack in the house when they tour. I’m assuming that Radiohead have “enough money” already and that their “experiment” will yield decent results. Decent enough to actually threaten the current model of artist gets $1 or less per album sold (hence some of the most vocal criticism from the UK Pop Charts and the like that depend on label payola…) The real winners I suppose are fans whether they compensate the band for their efforts or not.
Now would a concert ticket be just as nice a present as an album? A download better than a physical CD? The battle rages on…
Oh if you decided to get a hard copy of IN RAINBOWS by Radiohead I they will be shipping by land and sea from the UK today. A digital download in minutes and seconds vs. months…
John Tory will take your questions from noon to 1:00 pm today, Monday, on CFRB, and Dalton McGuinty will take your questions from noon to 1:00 pm tomorrow, Tuesday. It will be interesting to compare the two men’s styles.
What do you do to relax on a Sunday night?
I watch Billable Hours, the funniest comedy in Canada. Yeah, that’s right, funnier than Brent Butt’s Corner Gas. And that’s a freakingly funny show.
Showcase has spent much in advertising for this show, so I don’t understand why more people aren’t watching it. I mean, they film it in Toronto, fer chrissake. It’s even set here.
(more…)
Russell Peters began his show with a classic: a video montage of the fan-favourite joke about his dad, his friend Ryan, and the virtue of beating your kids. The vid was culled from his past shows during his world tour.
So far, he’s been to Vancouver, India, the UAE, Australia, and even a U.S. aircraft carrier. And his act was peppered with the things he learned while he was away from home.
But now he’s back. Back to Toronto. Back to Brampton, because we all know, All Roads Lead to Brampton.
He was in fine form, delivering one-liners at breakneck speed. The 15,000 people who filled the Air Canada Centre were laughing their asses off at “laughing their eyes off.” The two hours flew right by.
He pondered on the cheapness of his people, argued for the guy with the little penis, and made fun of every single nationality in the house.
Therein lies his greatest talent. The man has an ear and a tongue for languages. More accurately, growing up with cosmopolitan Toronto, he mastered accents. He can do any accent from Chinese, West Indian, Jamaican, Filipino, Guyanese, Canadian, Spanish, Italian, and of course, Indian.
He made fun of everyone. Even deaf people. And it was freakin’ hilarious. But you don’t need me to tell you just how funny he is. You already know. And if you don’t, Google his name. Go to YouTube and search for vids of his act. You’ll bawl over laughing. Promise.
If you’re already a fan, a true fan, you’ll watch him tonight. If you don’t, somebody gonna…
