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Category: People

“I though of that old joke, y’know, the, this, this guy goes to a psychiatrist and says, “Doc, uh, my brother’s crazy. He thinks he’s a chicken.” And, uh, the doctor says, “Well, why don’t you turn him in?” And the guy says, “I would, but I need the eggs.” Well, I guess that’s pretty much how I feel about relationships. Y’know, they’re totally irrational and crazy and absurd and, but, uh, I guess we keep going through it because, uh, most of us need the eggs.” —Woody Allen

Letter Sweep

Explanation. List:

  1. St. [A]idan’s Church, where I recently saw Amber Cunningham and Paul Grambo perform a concert combining music by Elvis Costello and Cole Porter.
  2. [B]uddies in Bad Times Theatre, where I’m going to see Evalyn Parry’s show SPIN.
  3. [C]hapters/Indigo, a bookstore where I had been trying to place an order.
  4. The Pidgin changelog on their [d]eveloper site.
  5. A recent event that had been posted on [E]ventBrite.
  6. [F]uture Shop. Looking for a replacement for my increasingly-crappy Harmony remote.
  7. The [G]rand Theatre, grand dame of London’s theatre venues.
  8. Twitter’s [H]ome page. Curiously, about three quarters of the suggested ‘H’ links are to Twitter.
  9. [I]nternational Theatre Institute, most widely known for starting World Theatre Day and promoting each year’s event with a message. I’m a co-presenter of London’s first WTD celebrations.
  10. [j].mp, the URL shortener.
  11. [K]ristin Sweetland, singer/songwriter/guitarist extraordinaire.
  12. [L]ondon Fringe Festival. If you’ve been around here at all you know why this one’s here.
  13. [M]TO, Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation. It’s winter in Canada, and for all its problems the MTO’s road info map is the best resource I’ve found to see if I’ll be able to get where I want to go.
  14. [N]CIX. Had to replace a faulty RAM stick.
  15. The National Ballet of Canada’s Toronto performance schedule for [O]negin, which I’m planning to see with a theatre-loving friend.
  16. DreamHost’s control [p]anel.
  17. IMDb’s meta-[q]uery page, which I have set up as a keyword.
  18. [R]CI, home of The Link, which I often hear late at night on CBC Radio 1.
  19. @[s]oapiest, aka Mikaela Dyke, actor, comedian, artist, activist, you name it. (Just days before she changed her handle.)
  20. My local install of [T]hinkUp, a personal Twitter metrics tool.
  21. [u]serstyles.org, a collection of handy user stylesheets for various websites.
  22. A [V]ideo for Everybody generator. Because <video> isn’t everywhere yet.
  23. Environment Canada’s weather forecasts. See [M].
  24. [x]kcd. As in Tim Bray’s original list, ’nuff said.
  25. [Y]UI 3. Website designs are never finished, only abandoned.
  26. YouTube; I guess its video IDs tend to include a lot of [z] characters.

It’s not elitism if you’re actually one of the elite

While reading I’m a proud Brainiac, Roger Ebert’s non-apology to those who call him “elitist” for not liking Transformers 2, I was reminded of one of my favourite moments from this year’s Fringe festival. It was during The NO Show, a nightly “talk show” put on by local sketch comedy group Fully Insured and hosted by scriptoris fecundus palmaris Jayson McDonald. The show is traditionally heavily comedy-oriented, including the interviews, just like the televised versions it springs from, and it’s really funny, due in large part to Jayson’s own ability to quickly riff on what his guest has just said.

What impressed me, though, was his interview with the cast and director of Never Swim Alone (Eva Blahut, Meaghan Chenosky, Tyler Parr and Justin Peter Quesnelle). Rather than play the interview for laughs, Jayson and his guests took the time to have an honest, insightful discussion about the show and their craft. It was a few minutes that demonstrated the intelligence of, and mutual respect between, the five people on stage.

Gene Siskel, Ebert’s partner on At the Movies until his death, said “I always ask myself: ‘Is the movie that I am watching as interesting as a documentary of the same actors having lunch together?'” Having now witnessed Eva, Jayson, Justin, Meaghan and Tyler “having lunch”, they’ve set a high bar for themselves and their companies (Passionfool and Stars and Hearts); but knowing the consistently high quality and passion each brings to her/his work, it’s one they’re all easily capable of leaping with room to spare.

T. and Emm

Two letters. Simple, right?

Tamara Nile at Rainbow Bistro, OttawaEmm Gryner at Imperial Theatre, Sarnia“T.” is T. Nile, a British Columbia-based singer-songwriter-banjo player whose music spans indie-folk, roots, blues, “alt” country, and reggae. “Emm” is Emm Gryner, a singer-songwriter-pianist-bassist who will rock the house and then tear our your heart with a ballad. I’ve known (of) Emm since high school, and met T(amara) last August.

I’ve seen Emm perform many times, in venues ranging from a tent at the Forest Fall Fair to the Glenn Gould Studio. The latter performance was her CD release show for Goddess in February; the good folks at CBC recorded the concert for broadcast, and, better yet, posted the show as a Concert on Demand.

Tamara, on the other hand, I’ve only seen a handful of times, including at a bar in Ottawa during a visit to see my niece and her parents, and most recently at the Trepid House in my old stomping grounds in Waterloo. CBC wasn’t at either of those shows, but as usual were out in front of the crowd, having recorded her way back in 2007.

Emm’s recently taken up with A Camp, a “solo” project by The Cardigans’ Nina Persson and her husband, Nathan Larson. Tamara has hooked up with a trio of siblings, Christa, Laura and Mike Mercey, and pedal steel player Burke Carroll, who collectively go by T. Nile & The Children of Mercey. Tamara’s getting set to release a new CD; Emm, as mentioned above, just put one out.

Despite the surface similarities, there’s really no comparing the two of them: they’re each excellent musicians in their own rights. What they share, though, is the ability to create great music.

T. Nile, Trees (live)

Emm Gryner, Blackwinged Bird

Canadians in New York

I haven’t seen it noted elsewhere—perhaps because they’re not “big” names—but the three leads in Monday night’s episode of Castle were all Canadian: regulars Nathan Fillion (Alberta) and Stana Katic (Ontario), and guest star Joanne Kelly (Newfoundland). (And that’s not all… Torontonian Alex Carter also had a supporting role.) Can’t think of another show not filmed in Canada (i.e. excluding things like Battlestar Galactica, Smallville, etc.) that’s had so many fellow Canucks onscreen at once in central roles. (I suppose 24 comes close, and it almost certainly wins over any other series for most Canadians in recurring roles.)

Fillion’s résumé is well-known, particularly to SF fans through his work with Joss Whedon. (I didn’t realize he was the eponymous Private Ryan… not a surprise considering I’m the only person on the planet not to have seen that film yet.) I’ve managed to miss most of Katic’s work save for her role on Heroes, although she’s got quite the list of credits behind her too. But the one I was happiest to see was Kelly, who’s made her name primarily in the Canadian film and television industry, and who I thought was one of the best parts of both the third series of Slings and Arrows and Jeremiah‘s second season. If Castle makes it to a second season—although indications are that it won’t—I’d like to see the Lee Wax character return.

One Week, one day

Knowing a bit of the way these things work, I realize it’s not a huge coincidence that as soon as I came back from One Week I’d discover that Emm Gryner would be promoting the film on CBC Sunday (with director Michael McGowan). But it’s a nice surprise nonetheless!

Rats… Emm was on CBC Sunday (the 10am show) rather than CBC Sunday Night (the 10pm show). (Fortunately the interview segment is online.) Must make for a long day for Carole MacNeil and Evan Solomon, who host both shows.

Bob and Alice (but not Carol or Ted)

One of the best shows of last year’s London Fringe Festival is being remounted in Toronto next month, and one of the best of the Montreal Fringe is coming to London soon after.

The Toronto play is Chaotica. It’s written and performed by Christel Bartelse, who I had the opportunity to interview (along with her stage manager Colleen O’Reilly) for Theatre in London last August. Christel’s promo describes it well: the madcap adventures of Alice, a stressed-out artist caught in a nightmarish board game that transforms her into different versions of who she thinks she wants to be.

Also on the bill is a play I haven’t seen, Lionheart, written and performed by Diana Kolpak, who directed Chaotica. Sounds like it will be a good complement: it’s about Litty, a lion-tamer trapped in a ring where the usual rules don’t apply.

The plays are at The Theatre Centre, which is the interesting venue where I saw Evalyn Parry in Breakfast last year. Haven’t decided yet which of the five performances I’m going to (although it’s most likely to be Saturday afternoon, Saturday evening or Sunday afternoon) but if anyone wants to come with I’ll be happy to drive.

Coming to London as part of this June’s Fringe festival, on the other hand, is Daniel MacIvor‘s See Bob Run, performed by Lydia Zadel. I’ve written about Lydia before, particularly for her work in The Body at the 2005 London Fringe.

The poster for the show is reminiscent of Lola rennt (aka Run Lola Run), although from what I’ve read of Bob it sounds like that’s mostly coincidental: Bob, a chatty teenager, decides to escape it all by hitch-hiking the trans-Canada highway. The only direction Bob gives to her rides is to go “East… Until you hit water. A lot of water.”

I’m really looking forward to seeing Lydia perform a MacIvor play, as she’s the one who got me interested in him in the first place; Jeff Culbert’s article a couple of years ago served to reinforce that interest, and I’ve seen all the performances of his work that I’ve been able to since, including House at last year’s Winnipeg Fringe Festival and Passionfool‘s excellent production of Never Swim Alone here in town. (Coincidentally, Never Swim Alone and See Bob Run are the first two shows I’ve heard about for the 2009 Fringe.) “Canadian theatre god” indeed.

End of an error

The Brunswick Hotel is irretrievably, permanently gone. It’s something of a loss to the local music and historical communities, and the owner deserves the severest punishment available for what he did to the place, but ultimately its demise was long overdue. For six months about a year ago I was there for several hours every Tuesday night in support of a local musician, and even contributed to a drive to get a halfway decent sound system for performances, despite the pervasive stench of urine and the dangerous drunks (most of whom got that way at the Wick’s bar). (The musician eventually gave up the gig, and as far as I know doesn’t perform at all any more, which is a loss for the Canadian music scene.)

Despite the good music it (very) occasionally hosted, the Wick was a smelly, overserving hole—you can insert whatever scatological prefix you’d like—and I’m glad to see it finally gone.

Here’s one for that special lady

Oh, so honey, let me help you with that suitcase
You ain’t gonna break my heart in two
‘Cause I’d rather get a hundred thousand paper cuts on my face
Than spend one more minute with you

…

I’d rather have my blood sucked out by leeches
Shove an icepick under a toenail or two
I’d rather clean all the bathrooms in Grand Central Station with my tongue
Than spend one more minute with you

Yes, I’d rather jump naked on a huge pile of thumbtacks
Or stick my nostrils together with crazy glue
I’d rather dive into a swimming pool filled with double-edged razor blades
Than spend one more minute with you

I’d rather rip my heart right out of my ribcage with my bare hands and then throw it on the floor and stomp on it ’til I die
Than spend one more minute with you