Let me preface this by saying the Ottawa Public Library is amazing, and if you want to see some good stuff or hear good music without adding to your clutter at home…go there! Get a card. This is why…..
Last night I was watching American Idol….I thought David Cook, and Carley Smithson were awesome by the way, when Tim yelled down “are you watching anything?” and I said “no”, I said guiltily as I kind of wanted to watch Dancing with the Stars…for lack of anything better on….TV is pretty much crap…but there I was watching it. SIGH
Anyways, I said “why, what do you want to watch?” “A Documentary on Eugene O’Neil I got from the library” Tim said. My first reaction was going to be, yuck, but I immediately thought, ya I would like to watch that. Then Tim brought it down and I realized it was a Ric Burns documentary on Eugene O’Neill and then I thought FANTASTIC!
If you don’t know who Ric or Ken Burns are….they are brothers for one thing, but both are amazing Documentary film makers. Ken Burns did the New York City Series and the Jazz Series…both are AWESOME - all of which we've gotten at the library. Anyways, I knew it would be good.
I had forgotten how interesting Eugene O’Neill’s life was, and how sad. He was haunted by ghosts. His mother had lost the brother he never known, Edmund, to the measles when Edmund was 2, before Eugene was born, which pretty much set the stage for the older brother James Jr.'s demise in life as a philanderer and alcoholic (read Moon for the Misbegotten, a play he wrote about his brother). When Eugene was born, his mother felt she was being punished and Eugene grew up with feelings of nothingness, and lonliness. His mother became a morphine addict, his father sold out to make a buck , after a promising potential career as an actor – well he did very very well as an actor playing the Count of Monte Cristo, but that was his sell out moment when he could have been a great Shakespearean actor and not be just known for that melodrama part of the Count. Eugene wandered amlessly, to South America, drinking, abadoning his wife and children, but ultimately becoming a celebrated American playwright in the process -- aren't all great artists tormented by their lives?
At any rate, I was watching this documentary and they had various actors doing scenes or monologues from plays like The Iceman Cometh, and Long Day’s Journey Into Night – two of his most famous works. Then I saw Al Pacino doing something from Iceman and both Tim and I said “Oh SHUT UP AL….god he pushes and trys too hard, he’s acting too hard and milking it” As an actor who has studied a lot , I can see it. But when Jason Robards did the same part in a clip from an old film version of the Broadway production…wow, magical.
Then the documentary went into his most famous play. Christopher Plummer did that speech from Long Day’s Journey into Night about how he sold out as an actor, what he could have been, the pain, etc, I wept (luckily Tim was sleeping). The language was so beautiful, and said by Plummer so simply I said “wow, that is why I love the theatre, and acting – what it can do to the audience if just done from the gut, simply – the beauty of language, how personal it can be”. Of course if you know O’Neill’s life you know this was an autobiographical play that nearly killed him to write. He actually sealed it at Random House and told them only to open it 25 yrs after his death and never have it performed. Both of which were ignored once he died….thank god. Anyway, it was stunning.
At one point Robert Sean Leonard (if you watch House he plays Wilson…he was also in Dead Poets Society when he was younger...I love him), he did this speech as Edmund in Long Day’s Journey…and the end went something like this..... "It was a great mistake my being born a man. I would have been much more successful as a sea-gull or a fish. As it is, I will always be a stranger who never feels at home, who does not really want is not really wanted, who can never belong, who must always be a little in love with death!" That was Eugene from the depth of his soul and said by Leonard, so simply, so grounded – painful, wonderful.
I love to act, and often it’s so hard to ground yourself to remember to listen, to “let it land”, but when it happens, or if you are a witness to such a performance, it can change your life – at least for that period in time. That is why I keep going back on stage, to catch that feeling, to be in the moment however hard it might be – even though it should be the simplest of things. Maybe that is selfish in a way, but it’s also the love of conveying the playwrights words to an audience, to share it with them. And when it is done right, affecting lives – touching people….a playwrights whose words can move people is a very special thing. It’s personal. And we as humans need to connect.
Eugene O’Neill was a most gifted and special artist. Thank you Mr. O’Neill for leaving us your words, and for inspiring us to convey your secret life to the world. And thank you Tim for having that library card....keep them movies and documentaries coming my friend.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Earth Day Moment
Happy Earth day…..does it really matter?
“What we have lived through, the 20th century, has been like a great party. Adults now have had the best time humanity has ever had. Now the party is over and the Earth is reckoning up.”
James Lovelock
Climate science maverick James Lovelock believes catastrophe is inevitable, carbon offsetting is a joke and ethical living a scam. So what would he do?
If you read James Lovelock, he predicts if you want to get some idea of what much of the Earth might look like in 50 years’ time then get hold of a powerful telescope or log onto Nasa’s Mars website. That arid, empty, lifeless landscape is, he believes, how most of Earth’s equatorial lands will be looking by 2050. A few decades later and that same uninhabitable desert will have extended into Spain, Italy, Australia and much of the southern United States. With that, comes mass migration North.
“We are on the edge of the greatest die-off humanity has ever seen,” said Lovelock. “We will be lucky if 20% of us survive what is coming. We should be scared stiff.”
"It's just too late for it," he says of going “green” and conservation "Perhaps if we'd gone along routes like that in 1967, it might have helped. But we don't have time. All these standard green things, like sustainable development, I think these are just words that mean nothing. I get an awful lot of people coming to me saying you can't say that, because it gives us nothing to do. I say on the contrary, it gives us an immense amount to do. Just not the kinds of things you want to do."
If you don’t know who James Lovelock is, he’s the high ranking scientist guru that discovered CFC’s were burning a hole in the ozone – he kind of knows what he is talking about.
So should we be scared? I suppose so, but in reality and if you think about it in a common sense way, we are not the be all and end all of civilization and the earth as we know it. There were other civilizations and life forms on this planet way before us, and there will be after us when we finally destroy it. No other life form has ruined the earth so quickly quite as we have (I’d be kind of embarrassed if I were us …oh wait I am)……We are pretty egotistical to think we are IT and we can stay the course. So why get depressed when you have come to terms that this universe is much bigger then all of us….no point stressing about it really.
Lovelock thinks that we are way too late to do anything about it and that we should enjoy life now while we can - he says this all with a smile and a shrug…what else can you do?- Regardless of what Lovelock says, and even if he says there is no point now going Green since it’s too late, I still don’t see why we can’t TRY though. It’s easy to cut things out –everyone just has to make a hard effort.
All this to say, with Earth Day upon us, a lot of people wonder how they can do their part for the environment. Thinking of our modes of transport, is crucial. A third of the emissions from Canadian households come from transportation -- the gas our vehicles burn. This is more than the total emissions of all utilities needed to power and heat our homes. Does that make sense?
Every additional car creates more traffic congestion which means more stops and starts, more idling and terrible fuel economy -- greater emissions. It also means more damage to the existing roads and creating more new roads. New roads mean destruction of farms, forests and wetlands, and increased demand for petroleum products for their construction and repair.
Let's not forget the energy needed to manufacture each car and the minerals, rubber and other components that have to be harvested from nature to make its component parts. That's a partial list of environmental considerations for operating car.
And we always forget that the oil that runs or makes our cars, also makes our clothing, delivers our food, makes our plastics, carpets, and pretty much most of the 1st world conveniences.
Our thinking has to change…because maybe, just maybe Lovelock is wrong…let’s prove him wrong. Re-use/ re-cycle as much as you can. Conserve as much as you can, and try to keep the buying to a minimum, plan your day so you only have to take the car out once to do all you need to do (if you need your car at all to do so).
Can you imagine if we all decided at once to not spend a dime on anything (other then food – and bring our own containers to buy only non packaged items) for just one month world wide? Or don’t drive any cars for 1 week……I bet we’d be shocked at what would happen.
Too bad humankind are such idiots, she says with a smile.
“What we have lived through, the 20th century, has been like a great party. Adults now have had the best time humanity has ever had. Now the party is over and the Earth is reckoning up.”
James Lovelock
Climate science maverick James Lovelock believes catastrophe is inevitable, carbon offsetting is a joke and ethical living a scam. So what would he do?
If you read James Lovelock, he predicts if you want to get some idea of what much of the Earth might look like in 50 years’ time then get hold of a powerful telescope or log onto Nasa’s Mars website. That arid, empty, lifeless landscape is, he believes, how most of Earth’s equatorial lands will be looking by 2050. A few decades later and that same uninhabitable desert will have extended into Spain, Italy, Australia and much of the southern United States. With that, comes mass migration North.
“We are on the edge of the greatest die-off humanity has ever seen,” said Lovelock. “We will be lucky if 20% of us survive what is coming. We should be scared stiff.”
"It's just too late for it," he says of going “green” and conservation "Perhaps if we'd gone along routes like that in 1967, it might have helped. But we don't have time. All these standard green things, like sustainable development, I think these are just words that mean nothing. I get an awful lot of people coming to me saying you can't say that, because it gives us nothing to do. I say on the contrary, it gives us an immense amount to do. Just not the kinds of things you want to do."
If you don’t know who James Lovelock is, he’s the high ranking scientist guru that discovered CFC’s were burning a hole in the ozone – he kind of knows what he is talking about.
So should we be scared? I suppose so, but in reality and if you think about it in a common sense way, we are not the be all and end all of civilization and the earth as we know it. There were other civilizations and life forms on this planet way before us, and there will be after us when we finally destroy it. No other life form has ruined the earth so quickly quite as we have (I’d be kind of embarrassed if I were us …oh wait I am)……We are pretty egotistical to think we are IT and we can stay the course. So why get depressed when you have come to terms that this universe is much bigger then all of us….no point stressing about it really.
Lovelock thinks that we are way too late to do anything about it and that we should enjoy life now while we can - he says this all with a smile and a shrug…what else can you do?- Regardless of what Lovelock says, and even if he says there is no point now going Green since it’s too late, I still don’t see why we can’t TRY though. It’s easy to cut things out –everyone just has to make a hard effort.
All this to say, with Earth Day upon us, a lot of people wonder how they can do their part for the environment. Thinking of our modes of transport, is crucial. A third of the emissions from Canadian households come from transportation -- the gas our vehicles burn. This is more than the total emissions of all utilities needed to power and heat our homes. Does that make sense?
Every additional car creates more traffic congestion which means more stops and starts, more idling and terrible fuel economy -- greater emissions. It also means more damage to the existing roads and creating more new roads. New roads mean destruction of farms, forests and wetlands, and increased demand for petroleum products for their construction and repair.
Let's not forget the energy needed to manufacture each car and the minerals, rubber and other components that have to be harvested from nature to make its component parts. That's a partial list of environmental considerations for operating car.
And we always forget that the oil that runs or makes our cars, also makes our clothing, delivers our food, makes our plastics, carpets, and pretty much most of the 1st world conveniences.
Our thinking has to change…because maybe, just maybe Lovelock is wrong…let’s prove him wrong. Re-use/ re-cycle as much as you can. Conserve as much as you can, and try to keep the buying to a minimum, plan your day so you only have to take the car out once to do all you need to do (if you need your car at all to do so).
Can you imagine if we all decided at once to not spend a dime on anything (other then food – and bring our own containers to buy only non packaged items) for just one month world wide? Or don’t drive any cars for 1 week……I bet we’d be shocked at what would happen.
Too bad humankind are such idiots, she says with a smile.
Monday, April 21, 2008
The End of Suburbia
“It’s the end of surburbia as we know it, and I feel fine….” Not exactly the REM song but close enough…..
This website is really interesting.....in Breaking news he posts articles in mainstream news as well.
Check it out.... Life after the Oil Crash
There was an article in the Ottawa Citizen yesterday about the end days for Suburbia…I laughed…I’ve been reading about it and talking about it for years….and most people didn’t believe it. Years ago no one heard about Peak Oil when I asked if they knew what it was. I have a friend at work who luckily is a “the sky is falling” kind of guy (and does his research) and he told me many years ago that oil was at it’s peak and things were going up up up in price and to get out of the suburbs ASAP – I believed him (he predicted Oil at $2.00 per litre years ago..and it will happen as we can see from the $1.20 it is now) Luckily at the time, I loathed suburbia anyways, and wanted to move closer to downtown. It was the best move I ever made. I believe my house is a gold mine. It is not too big, I don’t bother watering my grass (why bother…what a waste), we rarely put on the AC, it’s a mere 5 min bike ride to any type of store you want, 10 minutes to work or the Byward Market, or the theatre area in downtown Ottawa. I breath a sigh of relief at the move we made 3 years ago (we couldn’t afford the price of it now that is for sure!) And I have a spare room in my house that is always open for family and friends in times of need.
Tim and I decide once we saw the price of gas going higher and higher, we would leave the car in the driveway unless necessary (like weekend running errands out of the urban area). It’s so easy to ride the bike in the Spring/Summer/Fall and I even bought a Chariot for my dogs to ride with me – which I plan on getting them in this weekend. I realize that the winter poses problems (I don’t ride my bike in the winter) and it’s harder for me to walk to work because of my ankle problem, but we figure if we save now by not driving as much, will off set in the winter time once the snow starts flying. I must admit it is difficult at times, because I too am part of that addiction to oil, but I've started to change habits slowly, and my mind set as it takes time to break of habits / addictions. But I can see small changes happening in my thoughts as I purchase, drive etc. Baby steps they say.
The long and the short is this -- the way North Americans live, and our hunger for oil cannot be sustained. People have to wake up even though now that it’s in the mainstream media it might be too late. (although still no one seems to be listening). So for all of you people who think I am crazy when I tell you certain things, maybe now you will listen…or you can go on your merry little way, and suffer when the shit goes down. I, myself will be happily biking to work, walking for groceries, and living my life with money in my pocket. Will the majority of the population, in their useless 5% car or Hummer, heating their oversized natural gas guzzling 3000 sq ft houses be able to survive? (I mean SERIOUSLY who needs that much car or house space???? My mother grew up in a one bedroom apartment then small house for gods sake and my grandfather didn’t get a car until she was a teen…and then he stored it away during the winter -- she turned out ok).
Buy a used small vehicle and get rid of that gas guzzler, move OUT of the suburbs into a smaller place if you can, before your house is not worth much if anything! If you can’t do that TAKE THE BUS, or bike (bike=in shape) Buy as Locally as possible to help the situation, or plant a garden. It’s still not too late, but soon it will be as people start panicking and massive sell off ensues. . People will wake up in the ‘burbs, and feel trapped. Trapped in their depreciating homes, trapped at home, and essentially trapped outside the urban areas rapidly escalating in cost. (Urban = where I LIVE).
Plus, Keeping up with the Jones’ is so passé…get over it!
This website is really interesting.....in Breaking news he posts articles in mainstream news as well.
Check it out.... Life after the Oil Crash
There was an article in the Ottawa Citizen yesterday about the end days for Suburbia…I laughed…I’ve been reading about it and talking about it for years….and most people didn’t believe it. Years ago no one heard about Peak Oil when I asked if they knew what it was. I have a friend at work who luckily is a “the sky is falling” kind of guy (and does his research) and he told me many years ago that oil was at it’s peak and things were going up up up in price and to get out of the suburbs ASAP – I believed him (he predicted Oil at $2.00 per litre years ago..and it will happen as we can see from the $1.20 it is now) Luckily at the time, I loathed suburbia anyways, and wanted to move closer to downtown. It was the best move I ever made. I believe my house is a gold mine. It is not too big, I don’t bother watering my grass (why bother…what a waste), we rarely put on the AC, it’s a mere 5 min bike ride to any type of store you want, 10 minutes to work or the Byward Market, or the theatre area in downtown Ottawa. I breath a sigh of relief at the move we made 3 years ago (we couldn’t afford the price of it now that is for sure!) And I have a spare room in my house that is always open for family and friends in times of need.
Tim and I decide once we saw the price of gas going higher and higher, we would leave the car in the driveway unless necessary (like weekend running errands out of the urban area). It’s so easy to ride the bike in the Spring/Summer/Fall and I even bought a Chariot for my dogs to ride with me – which I plan on getting them in this weekend. I realize that the winter poses problems (I don’t ride my bike in the winter) and it’s harder for me to walk to work because of my ankle problem, but we figure if we save now by not driving as much, will off set in the winter time once the snow starts flying. I must admit it is difficult at times, because I too am part of that addiction to oil, but I've started to change habits slowly, and my mind set as it takes time to break of habits / addictions. But I can see small changes happening in my thoughts as I purchase, drive etc. Baby steps they say.
The long and the short is this -- the way North Americans live, and our hunger for oil cannot be sustained. People have to wake up even though now that it’s in the mainstream media it might be too late. (although still no one seems to be listening). So for all of you people who think I am crazy when I tell you certain things, maybe now you will listen…or you can go on your merry little way, and suffer when the shit goes down. I, myself will be happily biking to work, walking for groceries, and living my life with money in my pocket. Will the majority of the population, in their useless 5% car or Hummer, heating their oversized natural gas guzzling 3000 sq ft houses be able to survive? (I mean SERIOUSLY who needs that much car or house space???? My mother grew up in a one bedroom apartment then small house for gods sake and my grandfather didn’t get a car until she was a teen…and then he stored it away during the winter -- she turned out ok).
Buy a used small vehicle and get rid of that gas guzzler, move OUT of the suburbs into a smaller place if you can, before your house is not worth much if anything! If you can’t do that TAKE THE BUS, or bike (bike=in shape) Buy as Locally as possible to help the situation, or plant a garden. It’s still not too late, but soon it will be as people start panicking and massive sell off ensues. . People will wake up in the ‘burbs, and feel trapped. Trapped in their depreciating homes, trapped at home, and essentially trapped outside the urban areas rapidly escalating in cost. (Urban = where I LIVE).
Plus, Keeping up with the Jones’ is so passé…get over it!
Friday, April 18, 2008
A Sad Day for E-Street Fans
I really don’t know how to feel right now. Well I do. Sad. I just found out that Danny Federici , one of the original, original E-Street Band members and long time friend of Bruce Springsteen died yesterday of his 3 year battle with Melonoma Cancer. Whether you knew it or not, he was instrumental to Bruce Springsteen’s vibe and signature sound.
"Danny and I worked together for 40 years -- he was the most wonderfully fluid keyboard player and a pure natural musician. I loved him very much ... we grew up together," Springsteen said.
Danny, I hope you are playing your Organ wherever you are. You will truly be missed.
Danny Federici
1950 - 2008
"Danny and I worked together for 40 years -- he was the most wonderfully fluid keyboard player and a pure natural musician. I loved him very much ... we grew up together," Springsteen said.
Danny, I hope you are playing your Organ wherever you are. You will truly be missed.
Danny Federici
1950 - 2008
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
The 1st Annual Rideau Awards
Well, the 1st annual Rideau Awards have come and gone, and what a night it was….now let me just say it would have been quite nice to have heard my name called out as the winner of Best Female Performer, and I could have used that Physio for my Ernestine pained ankle, but it was not to be. Would have been nice though – we all in the show certainly worked our asses off, and might have launched a remount. Anyways, here are the winners (note I am NOT one of them...GRRRRRRR):
The winners of the first-ever Rideau Awards -- covering theatre presented in Ottawa during the 2007 calendar year -- are:
BEST PRODUCTION
Greek (Repercussion Theatre)
BEST DIRECTOR
Kevin Orr ( Greek, Repercussion Theatre)
BEST PERFORMANCE -- FEMALE
Kristina Watt ( Top Girls, Third Wall Theatre)
BEST PERFORMANCE -- MALE
Peter Froehlich ( Merz, New Theatre of Ottawa)
BEST DESIGN
Rebecca Miller (Lighting Design, Top Girls, Third Wall Theatre)
BEST NEW CREATION
The Churchill Protocol (Gruppo Rubato; original script by Patrick Gauthier and Kris Joseph, directed by Natalie Joy Quesnel)
EMERGING ARTIST AWARD
Michelle LeBlanc (Actor)
24 professional theatre productions were juried by a team of 11 local arts professionals during the 2007 calendar year. Nominations were submitted by secret ballot and tallied by local accountant.
That being said, It was a lovely evening though – well organized, chic, dapper, everyone looked cleaned up nicely, and some connections made.
My only beef has to be, regardless of how good Greek by Repercussion Theatre was, why did a remount done by a Montreal Company win? How did it get approved to be involved in the process? It was originally done in April 2005 by Thirdwall Theatre (before the Rideau Awards) and had original cast, but it was adjudicated in 2007......curious ........
But now that it’s over we can concentrate on getting the Vision Theatre Season out there (coming soon! And it’s exciting!), a play workshop over the next year and the Fringe show as well, which will reunite my Ernest and I in one of the shows -- Riley kids around that we are the new Kat Hepburn/Spencer Tracy of our generation -- with one minor exception, and if you know Riley you know why that is! LOL
Other exciting happens – Maureen and I (Let it Land Theatre) are discussing a potential play project– so if anyone out there knows of any women in the Canadian Military who just got back from Afghanistan, or has served there please direct them to us.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Extending Birthday Wishes
Today I would like to extend very happy birthday wishes to my older brother Marc!
Happy Birthday Bra!
I love you.
Happy Birthday Bra!
I love you.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Today I Climb the Soapbox
I can't in good conscience keep quiet after all these really good documentaries I've seen lately, so I do apologize for this soapbox type post. But I have to at least spread the word about the way "democracy" is going. Maybe we can make a difference?
"The Road to Guantanamo" - it's a re telling film, done in documentary style….Frig. Sickening. I don't care if people at Guantanamo are guilty or not (only 10 of the 775 have ever been "proven") No one should be treated like that and not given access to a trial and held indefinitely. It's modern Concentration camps à la US style. It is becoming pretty awe inspiring to witness fascism happen right on our door step.
Other important documentaries that I've seen lately ( you can probably rent most or stream online) is "Orwell Rolls in His Grave" which asks the question Can Lies become Truth? ,on how the media has manipulated us to believe things that aren't true or twist the truth. IE: Saddam was part of 9/11, Iraq has WMD's. etc.
Very well done. Did you know that in 1979/80, the planned release of the Iran hostages were to be 6 months later after the elections so that Jimmy Carter could be defeated all this brokered by the Regan election camp (the October Surprse) ? They were held longer to be released on the day Regan got sworn in….….just one example.
"Taxi to the Dark Side" the Academy Award winning documentary about treatment of detainees (in Afganistan, Abu Grab - Iraq etc.) , including one innocent taxi driver who was tortured by Americans and died at their hands.
Also see "No End in Sight" …although I think that documentary was funded by some Democrats, as it never says the Iraq war was wrong, just mangled in planning…it's sickening as well, but well put together.
Most can be streamed on Google Video. (Orwell, Guantanamo, and Taxi). Rights of all are being taken away slowly in the name of "security". I know most of these are American documentaries, but we are so influenced by them, that it is slowly trickling in. Plus, remember what happened to Mahar Arar?
For a Canadian turn try “The Corporation”.
There are all mainstream, truthful documentaries. If you rather something fictional there is the most excellent 1976 movie -- Network (Starring: Faye Dunaway, William Holden, Robert Duvall)
Lets not turn a blind eye anymore and say "it won't happen here", because it has started……
"In times of universal deceit telling the truth will become a revolutionary act"
George Orwell
On another note, it seems world food prices are hugely on the rise – corn (for ethanol), wheat, rice. This article on CBC is worth the read.
http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2008/04/08/food-prices.html#storycomments
Ok, my soapbox will be put away for a spell. Peace out!
"The Road to Guantanamo" - it's a re telling film, done in documentary style….Frig. Sickening. I don't care if people at Guantanamo are guilty or not (only 10 of the 775 have ever been "proven") No one should be treated like that and not given access to a trial and held indefinitely. It's modern Concentration camps à la US style. It is becoming pretty awe inspiring to witness fascism happen right on our door step.
Other important documentaries that I've seen lately ( you can probably rent most or stream online) is "Orwell Rolls in His Grave" which asks the question Can Lies become Truth? ,on how the media has manipulated us to believe things that aren't true or twist the truth. IE: Saddam was part of 9/11, Iraq has WMD's. etc.
Very well done. Did you know that in 1979/80, the planned release of the Iran hostages were to be 6 months later after the elections so that Jimmy Carter could be defeated all this brokered by the Regan election camp (the October Surprse) ? They were held longer to be released on the day Regan got sworn in….….just one example.
"Taxi to the Dark Side" the Academy Award winning documentary about treatment of detainees (in Afganistan, Abu Grab - Iraq etc.) , including one innocent taxi driver who was tortured by Americans and died at their hands.
Also see "No End in Sight" …although I think that documentary was funded by some Democrats, as it never says the Iraq war was wrong, just mangled in planning…it's sickening as well, but well put together.
Most can be streamed on Google Video. (Orwell, Guantanamo, and Taxi). Rights of all are being taken away slowly in the name of "security". I know most of these are American documentaries, but we are so influenced by them, that it is slowly trickling in. Plus, remember what happened to Mahar Arar?
For a Canadian turn try “The Corporation”.
There are all mainstream, truthful documentaries. If you rather something fictional there is the most excellent 1976 movie -- Network (Starring: Faye Dunaway, William Holden, Robert Duvall)
Lets not turn a blind eye anymore and say "it won't happen here", because it has started……
"In times of universal deceit telling the truth will become a revolutionary act"
George Orwell
On another note, it seems world food prices are hugely on the rise – corn (for ethanol), wheat, rice. This article on CBC is worth the read.
http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2008/04/08/food-prices.html#storycomments
Ok, my soapbox will be put away for a spell. Peace out!
Monday, April 7, 2008
I am de-shoe-flated!
I am attending the first annual Rideau Awards next Sunday and so went shoe shopping to get a snazzy pair of shoes to go with my fabulous dress. I felt that since Ernestine was nominated for an award, I would take her shopping to update her look from those terrible Red faux snakeskin loafers (which caused me, the actress, much pain in the heels) to some sassy red high heels. I bought these really nice shoes yesterday at Frou Frou in the market – after I already bought another pair of really cool shoes. But I decided that these were better. Both were candy apple red patentleather and sling backs….let me tell you something about sling back shoes, they don’t stay where they are suppose to. They slide down the heel. And one must keep having to fix them, but they just fall down again. I found this out whilst trying to break in this new pair. A few days ago this very thought kind of past my mind when I tried the ensemble with the other red shoes for my hubby – with Nylons….these seemed to slip on the right foot. I didn’t think much else of that. Until I brought the new ones to work today….I was all proud, until I walked to the kitchen then back to my desk at my work and they were slipping.
I’m pissed.
I even bought some of these Dr. Scholl’s silicone heel thingys and seemed to work with barefeet….they still don’t with nylons and I am doubtful they will truly work with barefeet.
So now I have to not only bring back BOTH pairs with head down, but I have to start from scratch…..I really liked those shoes too.
I’m pouting…..I think I might try double sided tape as a last ditch effort.
I’m pissed.
I even bought some of these Dr. Scholl’s silicone heel thingys and seemed to work with barefeet….they still don’t with nylons and I am doubtful they will truly work with barefeet.
So now I have to not only bring back BOTH pairs with head down, but I have to start from scratch…..I really liked those shoes too.
I’m pouting…..I think I might try double sided tape as a last ditch effort.
Friday, April 4, 2008
Moving onwards and upwards
The Decision has been made and is solidified
I had a very busy theatre year last year (2006-2007). I did some community theatre, and some semi-professional theatre. I wish at the time of doing the community theatre projects I would have known they were my last community acting so I could really enjoy them. But somehow I knew in my gut they were to be my last. I can’t learn anything acting wise from it anymore – well haven’t for a long while. Thus my decision has been made. Not that I will never do community theatre again in my lifetime, it’s just I am at the point where I want to stretch my talent and training, challenge it and learn more and have fun doing it. Once I am done with that and just want to rest on it and have fun I’ll go back – maybe.
When I did Proof by David Auburn at the Ottawa Little Theatre in 2005 I think what happened was that the training that I had had at Studio 58 in Vancouver had finally settled in after many years. Perhaps it needed a maturation period. Or maybe it is just because I am older. Regardless, I know I did excellent work and that something had changed, maybe it was the fantastic material– and it was solidified with the Best Performance Nomination and the fact that our wonderful director and the show won numerous awards (including the 2005 Capital Critics Award). I should have left it at that.
I went back the following year, feeling unfulfilled, then again the year after. It had nothing to do with the director, nor the institution, but it was me. I needed more, I needed to be challenged and do something different. Luckily I had auditioned for Vision Theatre and had pestered Sam Awwad for reading me for The Anger in Ernest and Ernestine.
Good thing I did. Things have been happening……it’s be a GREAT theatre year.
It was one of the best if not the best theatrical experiences I've had. Linda B. let us explore and play and use our training and create our characters/environment but still guided us to her solid vision. I never laughed so much, and I met some great people who now I consider good friends. And we will move on to do some interesting professional theatre projects very soon (see Vision Theatre website for more details).
And the icing on the cake – I was nominated for a Best Female Performance Nomination for the first ever Rideau Awards for playing Ernestine (a part I wanted to play for 10 years).
Then I put on Jewel by Joan MacLeod with my own theatre company- Let it Land Theatre. It was also very challenging and again realized that Maureen and I have something; a great chemistry that requires further exploration of our own ideas/creative work. And the production was great to get noticed, and finally people in the professional community seem to know my name….so I say “bring on the offers”….. I am soliciting, and emailing and yes…..god forbid…doing some schmoozing. I am just glad my name is finally getting out there. I worked many years at this, and feel I sometimes know what I am doing.
So when I was offered a role for an amateur production the other day (which I hadn't solicited), I graciously said “Thank you , but I am pursuing some other options at this point in my life”
It feels right, so there it is. I will still have doubts and feel like I don't know what I am doing. But I feel that is the challenge: to face things that scare me, and put myself out there - to grown, fail, succeed, learn, develop, change, and maybe become more and more confident. Less the "good student" I was in theatre school...hmmm maybe that is what changed in 2005.....is was shedding that person?
At any rate….any one out there have offers for paying (or prospect of paying if profit) acting parts????
I had a very busy theatre year last year (2006-2007). I did some community theatre, and some semi-professional theatre. I wish at the time of doing the community theatre projects I would have known they were my last community acting so I could really enjoy them. But somehow I knew in my gut they were to be my last. I can’t learn anything acting wise from it anymore – well haven’t for a long while. Thus my decision has been made. Not that I will never do community theatre again in my lifetime, it’s just I am at the point where I want to stretch my talent and training, challenge it and learn more and have fun doing it. Once I am done with that and just want to rest on it and have fun I’ll go back – maybe.
When I did Proof by David Auburn at the Ottawa Little Theatre in 2005 I think what happened was that the training that I had had at Studio 58 in Vancouver had finally settled in after many years. Perhaps it needed a maturation period. Or maybe it is just because I am older. Regardless, I know I did excellent work and that something had changed, maybe it was the fantastic material– and it was solidified with the Best Performance Nomination and the fact that our wonderful director and the show won numerous awards (including the 2005 Capital Critics Award). I should have left it at that.
I went back the following year, feeling unfulfilled, then again the year after. It had nothing to do with the director, nor the institution, but it was me. I needed more, I needed to be challenged and do something different. Luckily I had auditioned for Vision Theatre and had pestered Sam Awwad for reading me for The Anger in Ernest and Ernestine.
Good thing I did. Things have been happening……it’s be a GREAT theatre year.
It was one of the best if not the best theatrical experiences I've had. Linda B. let us explore and play and use our training and create our characters/environment but still guided us to her solid vision. I never laughed so much, and I met some great people who now I consider good friends. And we will move on to do some interesting professional theatre projects very soon (see Vision Theatre website for more details).
And the icing on the cake – I was nominated for a Best Female Performance Nomination for the first ever Rideau Awards for playing Ernestine (a part I wanted to play for 10 years).
Then I put on Jewel by Joan MacLeod with my own theatre company- Let it Land Theatre. It was also very challenging and again realized that Maureen and I have something; a great chemistry that requires further exploration of our own ideas/creative work. And the production was great to get noticed, and finally people in the professional community seem to know my name….so I say “bring on the offers”….. I am soliciting, and emailing and yes…..god forbid…doing some schmoozing. I am just glad my name is finally getting out there. I worked many years at this, and feel I sometimes know what I am doing.
So when I was offered a role for an amateur production the other day (which I hadn't solicited), I graciously said “Thank you , but I am pursuing some other options at this point in my life”
It feels right, so there it is. I will still have doubts and feel like I don't know what I am doing. But I feel that is the challenge: to face things that scare me, and put myself out there - to grown, fail, succeed, learn, develop, change, and maybe become more and more confident. Less the "good student" I was in theatre school...hmmm maybe that is what changed in 2005.....is was shedding that person?
At any rate….any one out there have offers for paying (or prospect of paying if profit) acting parts????
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
It’s Official! I will admit it…
I am an IDIOT!
Normally I would not admit such embarrassing things about myself but this story of my idiocy is too good not to share….if I am going to laugh at myself, why not let the world laugh with me.
So, Tim and I go out for dinner on Saturday night to my friend Janet's in New Edinburgh...lovely evening. Good food, nice people, tasty wine, we celebrated Earth Day by candle light. We go home....I look for my house key. No where to be found. I emptied my purse, looked in all my pockets, the right one, the left one, the inside pocket...NOTHING. Tim doesn't have his key. So we drive back to Janet's. Thank god she doesn't live far! We looked where we parked and on the path to her house. I went in her house, backtracked. NOTHING. So I say "what do we do...OH my folks have a key, I'll call them on my cell". I start to dial. FRIG. My parents are in St . Sauveur for the weekend....well I think to myself what the "F" are we gonna do now...I call my brother Marc, because they have a key for my mom's house, and just get them to call my aunts place in St. Sauveur to tell us where the key is (turns out they don't have a key anyways).....no answer. FUCK.
So we call a Locksmith. 40 min later and $141 we are in the house......Yay, the puppies that are stuck in the upstairs bedroom are saved as their owners are home and they are happy. They don’t realize that one of their owners is really a huge dumbass. (well they probably do. I am pretty sure Abby thinks both of us are complete idiots, but that is another blog story).
Fast forward to Sunday afternoon and we are still swearing and cursing and laughing about the expensive loss. I am wearing the same jacket I wore the night before and we are running errands. We are in the car and Tim says " you should have just put the key in that little side sleeve pocket that you have there"......I suddenly flashback to Saturday evening when I locked the door, put the house key IN the side pocket saying to myself in my inner monologue “Boy I sure hope I don’t forget I put the key in this side pocket” (which I failed to check when I was looking for the key Sat. night when I thought I lost it) ....then I start laughing....and I say to Tim " OH MY, you are never going to believe this" ....Laughing, I dramatically unzip the wee pocket and HEAVENS there is the key!
I'm an idiot. But now we have 2 extra cut keys!!!
Normally I would not admit such embarrassing things about myself but this story of my idiocy is too good not to share….if I am going to laugh at myself, why not let the world laugh with me.
So, Tim and I go out for dinner on Saturday night to my friend Janet's in New Edinburgh...lovely evening. Good food, nice people, tasty wine, we celebrated Earth Day by candle light. We go home....I look for my house key. No where to be found. I emptied my purse, looked in all my pockets, the right one, the left one, the inside pocket...NOTHING. Tim doesn't have his key. So we drive back to Janet's. Thank god she doesn't live far! We looked where we parked and on the path to her house. I went in her house, backtracked. NOTHING. So I say "what do we do...OH my folks have a key, I'll call them on my cell". I start to dial. FRIG. My parents are in St . Sauveur for the weekend....well I think to myself what the "F" are we gonna do now...I call my brother Marc, because they have a key for my mom's house, and just get them to call my aunts place in St. Sauveur to tell us where the key is (turns out they don't have a key anyways).....no answer. FUCK.
So we call a Locksmith. 40 min later and $141 we are in the house......Yay, the puppies that are stuck in the upstairs bedroom are saved as their owners are home and they are happy. They don’t realize that one of their owners is really a huge dumbass. (well they probably do. I am pretty sure Abby thinks both of us are complete idiots, but that is another blog story).
Fast forward to Sunday afternoon and we are still swearing and cursing and laughing about the expensive loss. I am wearing the same jacket I wore the night before and we are running errands. We are in the car and Tim says " you should have just put the key in that little side sleeve pocket that you have there"......I suddenly flashback to Saturday evening when I locked the door, put the house key IN the side pocket saying to myself in my inner monologue “Boy I sure hope I don’t forget I put the key in this side pocket” (which I failed to check when I was looking for the key Sat. night when I thought I lost it) ....then I start laughing....and I say to Tim " OH MY, you are never going to believe this" ....Laughing, I dramatically unzip the wee pocket and HEAVENS there is the key!
I'm an idiot. But now we have 2 extra cut keys!!!
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
The Rubber Chicken - Ottawa Theatre Challenge
Last Thursday March 27th was World Theatre Day. Our theatre company (Maureen Smith and myself- Let it land theatre), won the Rubber Chicken award for the 8th Annual Ottawa Theatre Challenge hosted by A Company of Fools last week. The Challenge,-- show up at Darcy McGees Pub on Tuesday March 25th at 7:30pm with a newspaper headline and something wrapped. Your company then picks a headline, and a wrapped item and you have 48hrs to write a 5 minute piece of theatre. Our Headline was “There will be blood pressure” and our objects were an empty Tampon box, empty roll of toilet paper, an elastic, an HB Pencil and a note “What would MacGyver do?” Our script was a madcap, wacked out “24” a la Jack Bauer in Lululemon skit in a fitness class.
I am still giggling.
We backed out twice, we went up with scripts in hand, Sarah and Kate were coming, then not coming, so the Barbies were the replacement actresses, once Scott Florence convinced us to just come and read it, then Mo’s kids ran a-moke during rehearsal so we only had two runs at it, then both Sarah and Kate came near showtime, so we didn’t really rehearse any of it at all and the Barbies just became window dressing…..it was all very surreal, funny, and on the fly.
I am certain all the other companies out there are saying “how the hell did they win?”
I’ll be honest and say, I haven’t a clue.
Now, we figure we won because of a few factors:
- we had the fabulous Kate Hurman with us;
- we had great energy, and lets be honest between the 4 of us have probably 80 years of theatre experience ;
- it was funny, and pretty wacked (COME ON- Maureen was doing high kicks and karate chops, and there was a Barbie in a downward dog, on a blue “yoga mat” made out of construction paper, and Kate was "stretching" her boobs) ;
- we were so un-prepared they felt sorry for us.
Or maybe, just maybe, we were the best crew....who knows.
Regardless, we won, the others didn’t. Tits up t’y’all.
I am still giggling.
We backed out twice, we went up with scripts in hand, Sarah and Kate were coming, then not coming, so the Barbies were the replacement actresses, once Scott Florence convinced us to just come and read it, then Mo’s kids ran a-moke during rehearsal so we only had two runs at it, then both Sarah and Kate came near showtime, so we didn’t really rehearse any of it at all and the Barbies just became window dressing…..it was all very surreal, funny, and on the fly.
I am certain all the other companies out there are saying “how the hell did they win?”
I’ll be honest and say, I haven’t a clue.
Now, we figure we won because of a few factors:
- we had the fabulous Kate Hurman with us;
- we had great energy, and lets be honest between the 4 of us have probably 80 years of theatre experience ;
- it was funny, and pretty wacked (COME ON- Maureen was doing high kicks and karate chops, and there was a Barbie in a downward dog, on a blue “yoga mat” made out of construction paper, and Kate was "stretching" her boobs) ;
- we were so un-prepared they felt sorry for us.
Or maybe, just maybe, we were the best crew....who knows.
Regardless, we won, the others didn’t. Tits up t’y’all.
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