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aion-rsa · 4 years ago

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Top New Horror Books in February 2020

Deathless Divide by Justina Ireland

Type: Novel Publisher: Balzer + Bray Release date: 2/4/20

Den of Geek says: Justina Ireland’s Dread Nation was one of the most-talked-about YA debuts of 2018, and for good reason! The story of Black zombie hunters in an alternate Reconstruction-era America is already one of the best premises of all time, and Ireland more than follows through on the promise of kickass, sociopolitically cathartic potential—with Dread Nation, and now with Deathless Divide. (We love this one so much, it’s also on our Top New YA Books of February 2020 list.)

Publisher’s summary: The sequel to the New York Times bestselling epic Dread Nation is an unforgettable journey of revenge and salvation across a divided America.

After the fall of Summerland, Jane McKeene hoped her life would get simpler: Get out of town, stay alive, and head west to California to find her mother.

But nothing is easy when you’re a girl trained in putting down the restless dead, and a devastating loss on the road to a protected village called Nicodemus has Jane questioning everything she thought she knew about surviving in 1880s America.

What’s more, this safe haven is not what it appears—as Jane discovers when she sees familiar faces from Summerland amid this new society. Caught between mysteries and lies, the undead, and her own inner demons, Jane soon finds herself on a dark path of blood and violence that threatens to consume her.

But she won’t be in it alone.

Katherine Deveraux never expected to be allied with Jane McKeene. But after the hell she has endured, she knows friends are hard to come by—and that Jane needs her too, whether Jane wants to admit it or not.

Watching Jane’s back, however, is more than she bargained for, and when they both reach a breaking point, it’s up to Katherine to keep hope alive—even as she begins to fear that there is no happily-ever-after for girls like her.

Buy Deathless Divide by Justina Ireland on Amazon.

The Boatman’s Daughter by Andy Davidson

Type: Novel Publisher: MCD x FSG Release date: 2/11/20

Den of Geek says: If it’s good enough for Paul Tremblay, it’s good enough for us! We love a good atmospheric horror read, and The Boatman’s Daughter sounds like it has more atmosphere in one page than most books do in their entirety.

Publisher’s summary: A “lush nightmare” (Paul Tremblay) of a supernatural thriller about a young woman facing down ancient forces in the depths of the bayou.

Ever since her father was killed when she was just a child, Miranda Crabtree has kept her head down and her eyes up, ferrying contraband for a mad preacher and his declining band of followers to make ends meet and to protect an old witch and a secret child from harm.

But dark forces are at work in the bayou, both human and supernatural, conspiring to disrupt the rhythms of Miranda’s peculiar and precarious life. And when the preacher makes an unthinkable demand, it sets Miranda on a desperate, dangerous path, forcing her to consider what she is willing to sacrifice to keep her loved ones safe.

With the heady mythmaking of Neil Gaiman and the heartrending pacing of Joe Hill, Andy Davidson spins a thrilling tale of love and duty, of loss and discovery. The Boatman’s Daughter is a gorgeous, horrifying novel, a journey into the dark corners of human nature, drawing our worst fears and temptations out into the light.

Read The Boatman’s Daughter by Andy Davidson on Amazon.

The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James

Type: Novel Publisher: Berkley Release date: 2/18/20

Den of Geek says: Who doesn’t love a good creepy motel story? From the author who brought us The Broken Girls, comes another female-driven foray into horror mystery. If you’ve been digging Nancy Drew or love Sharp Objects, there’s more where that came from.

Publisher’s summary: Something hasn’t been right at the roadside Sun Down Motel for a very long time, and Carly Kirk is about to find out why in this chilling new novel from the USA Today bestselling and award-winning author of The Broken Girls.

Upstate New York, 1982. Viv Delaney wants to move to New York City, and to help pay for it she takes a job as the night clerk at the Sun Down Motel in Fell, New York. But something isnʼt right at the motel, something haunting and scary.

Upstate New York, 2017. Carly Kirk has never been able to let go of the story of her aunt Viv, who mysteriously disappeared from the Sun Down before she was born. She decides to move to Fell and visit the motel, where she quickly learns that nothing has changed since 1982. And she soon finds herself ensnared in the same mysteries that claimed her aunt.

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Read The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James on Amazon.

The post Top New Horror Books in November 2020 appeared first on Den of Geek.

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ohlukcs · 5 years ago

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– task 001 : ooc survey

YOUR ALIAS & NICKNAMES — sam !

AGE — 22

TIMEZONE — aest babey

PREFERRED PRONOUNS — she/her

MBTI — um i have no freakin idea except definitely introvert, i would do the test but i woke up like ten minutes ago so i am no functional enough for that rn lmao

HP HOUSE — now listen i wanted to be a ravenclaw when i was 11 so i believe i have to stick to that, based on my values and who i think i am now i think it’d be more hufflepuff but 11 yr old me wanted to be the smartest bitch around so im a ravenclaw

ARE YOU A STUDENT? WHAT DO YOU STUDY? — i used to be, i graduated last year i studied film and television

ARE YOU ENJOYING IT? — ya! it was a lot of fun and i got to make a lot of cool stuff ! made a film that won best student horror at toronto short film festival so that was really fucking exciting

LINKS TO OTHER ACCOUNTS & SOCIAL MEDIA — im @spookyrps and on weheartit and pinterest

DISCORD USER — im scared of bots so not gonna put the whole thing but im skelesam in the chat

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE FICTION GENRE? — horror, thriller, anything crazy and ridiculous and fun. starting to like comedies a lot now too but it really depends on how its made

TOP FIVE FAVOURITE FILMS — oh boi um booksmart, the martian, whiplash, god help the girl, and the scooby doo movie. theres a million others i could put there but im just gonna go with the first five that came to mind or else i’ll be here all day (special shoutouts: bad times at the el royale, hereditary & midsommar, the new it movies, jennifer’s body, clue, the barkley marathons, harry potter series, se7en, and the saw franchise)

A BOOK YOU FEEL “CHANGED” YOU? — the night circus by erin morgenstern

A MOVIE YOU THINK ABOUT OFTEN? — the room lmao

WHAT IS YOUR SIGN? — aquarius babey

ARE YOU INTO ASTROLOGY? — i dont like follow it but i do like to read up on them and use the signs to help build my characters (eg. lukas is a scorpio and drea is an aquarius too)

WHAT PLATFORMS HAVE YOU ROLEPLAYED ON? — almost exclusively tumblr but i was in a forum rp back in like 2009 or something lmao

WHAT OTHER HOBBIES DO YOU HAVE? — i do a lot of stuff based around film making, like everything from script writing/reading, production design, filming, editing, thats what i love to do. and i wanna be a gamer but i have a shit computer and very limited hand eye coordination lmaoo

HAVE ANY PETS? IF SO, TALK ABOUT THEM! — ya ! i have a black cat named zelda who is admittedly a lil .... thicc. i love her so much and she barely tolerates me. she grooms me and my roommate bc i think she thinks she’s our mom and like she is tbh

IS THERE A TV SHOW YOU RECOMMEND A LOT? — search party, its so fucking good and funny and crazy and i love it. if u like zany comedies with a lil mystery, its really fun. big broad city vibes

ANY SHOWS YOU LIKE SOME MIGHT BE SURPRISED TO HEAR THAT YOU DO? — um i dont think so, i think i’m very predictable in my media consumption lmao

WHAT WAS THE LAST BOOK YOU READ? WOULD YOU RECOMMEND IT? — bro its been so long since i finished a book, i think it was the miseducation of cameron post by emily m danforth. idk if i would recommend it, i think it depends what ur after from a book bc this was VERY DEPRESSING and threw my little bi ass through the ringer lol

CURRENTLY READING? — jonathon van ness’ autobiography over the top: a raw journey to self love (im rlly enjoying it so far)

LAST FILM? REC IT? — not technically a film but i watched unnatural selection on netflix last night and it fucked me up and i need everyone else to watch it so i can talk about it

THREE MOVIES YOU NEED TO WATCH — gattaca bc of the unnatural selection viewing lmao, the cat and the moon to support my boi alex wolff, and knives out bc it looks so fucking good i wanna see it so bad

WHAT MOVIE DO YOU THINK YOU’VE SEEN THE MOST TIMES? — harry potter and the philospher’s stone probably. i used to watch it multiple times a year and now i watch it at least once

WHAT ALWAYS PUTS YOU IN A GOOD MOOD? — watching my fave stand up comedies lol. go tos are john mulaney and bo burnham

WHO IS YOUR FAVOURITE MUSICIAN / BAND? LIST IF THERE ARE MORE THAN ONE. — all time fave is the front bottoms but a more recent fave is rex orange county

WILD NIGHT OUT OR QUIET NIGHT IN? — quiet night in

ANY PHOBIAS? — not really

DO YOU LIKE BUGS? — fuck no but i dont really lose my shit over them

BIRDS? — they can chill, except for emus fuck them

ARE YOU A CAT OR DOG PERSON? BOTH? — more cat than dog but i want a dog rlly bad

BIGGEST PET PEEVE? — being talked over/ignored lol

FAVOURITE THING ABOUT THE RPC? — that i’ve met and become friends with so many cool people from all over the world ??? like what the fuck ???

TOP TEN FAVE FCS TO USE? — i mean obv at the moment its alisha boe and alex wolff, but also love liana liberato, benedetta gargari, joe keery, really love using all the skam nl fcs, lili reinhart, oliver jackson-cohen, zoe kravitz, and probs a million more i just cant think of

FIVE YOU LIKE WRITING AGAINST? — literally all of them bye lmao

FAVOURITE TYPE OF FOOD? — i luh me some pasta ok

WORST FOOD? — seafood lol i’ve never eaten it and i probs never will

DO YOU PLAY VIDEOGAMES? IF SO, WHAT ONES AND ON WHAT PLATFORM DO YOU PREFER? — i play a lil and wanna play more! atm i have a ps4 and i like to play a lot of like “””decision making games””” (until dawn, detroit become human, etc) but mainly i play graveyard keeper. currently saving to get a pc so i can play more

ANYTHING ELSE YOU’D LIKE TO SHARE WITH THE TAG? — i said something about the barkley marathons before and i would just like to say netflix took it down recently and i haven’t recovered i feel like pure shit i just want her (the barkley marathons) back x

LASTLY, HOW DID YOU FIND US? — i follow a couple of the admins from my ooc blog and saw it was back (after never having time to join any of the other iterations of lockwood) and was like fuck it yk

#huntingtontask001 #huntingtonooc #huntingtontask

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aci32 · 2 years ago

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WARDRUNA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey everyone, sorry for running 72 hours late but better late than never, here’s my 15th and 3rd last review of 2022, Wardruna! This was my first time seeing them and as well it would’ve been my 2nd time catching them had I gone to see them at Danforth Music Hall 4 years ago but I didn’t go because my workplace abruptly moving from downtown Toronto area of the Riverside neighbourhood to moving up to the suburban area of Woodbridge and being sandwiched in between North York and Vaughan, and that transition burned me out, turned me into a basket case, and it was all the motivation for me to hit the reset button as it took me 7 months to get fully adjusted at that time 4 years ago. But of course I’m well established after living at the current location for 4 years. Wardruna were supposed to play in 2020 but that show got rescheduled due to the pandemic and as well they were supposed to play last year but got rescheduled for the same reasons and as well last year was still at limited attendance, whereas this year full attendance was permitted.

Let’s get to the festivities!

After waiting for a good while it was time for WARDRUNA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! As I had said earlier this was my first time seeing them live and they put on a phenomenal live show. This was the first time in a decade I had been to a non metal concert and that was when I saw NOFX play at Fort York. This was more than just a show, it was an experience like no other, to me a Wardruna show is a crossover of seeing both a concert and a play, I could even call it an atmospheric musical. The first time they ever came on my radar and as well with a majority of people in the metal scene was through the show Vikings, particularly the season 2 Blood Eagle episode, and it then progressed on from there. I will also say hearing the vocals of Einar “Kvitrafn” Selvik and Lindy Fay Hella was awesome and mezmerizing, the instrumental sections were outstanding, and the visuals were nothing short of spectacular. I will also say there was also some elements of comedy in the show especially when one fan yelled out “OH YEAH!” and the crowd laughed, plus as well Einar Selvik himself was a comedian with some of the banter he was saying in between songs like talking about “Culture dissing” and “My culture is better than yours bullshit” and he had said “We should get back to the days of where we would sing whether we’re working in the fields, or making maple syrup *cue crowd laughter*” I also remember him saying before he played the final song Snake Pit Poetry when the crowd gave him a standing ovation for a 3rd time “I take it that’s your way of saying you want one more song?” *Crowd roars in approval* He then granted the crowd their request, he also drew laughs when he asked “I’m sure it looks like you all want to do a wall of death or something?” He then proceeded to make reference to the TV show Vikings, in which he had composed a number of songs for that show, one of which Heimta Thurs was from their 2009 album that made it to the 2nd season of the Blood Eagle episode, he then also made reference to Ragnar Lothbrok and said “It means, the man with furry pants *crowd laughs*” he also made the crowd laugh when he said the Ragnar found it appropriate to write poetry before being executed via the snake pit. Here’s their setlist:

KvitravnPlay Video

SkuggePlay Video

SolringenPlay Video

BjarkanPlay Video

Heimta Thurs

TyrPlay Video

LyfjabergPlay Video

IsaPlay Video

Voluspá (Skaldic Version)Play Video

UruRPlay Video

GráPlay Video

Rotlaust tre fellPlay Video

FehuPlay Video

OdalPlay Video

HelvegenPlay Video

Snake Pit Poetry - Skaldic Mode(Einar Selvik cover)

Overall a great show and experience and it was even more better for me to see Wardruna 5 days after I turned 33, and funnily enough I got to see two different shows at two different venues in a span of 8 days. Iron Maiden 3 days before my 33rd birthday at Scotiabank Arena and Wardruna 5 days after my 33rd birthday. Funnily enough, I also look forward to seeing both those bands at next years Wacken Open Air, so that will be loads of fun.

WARDRUNA FOREVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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sandrabatt · 7 years ago

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Article 605

For those of you who are new to my blog, I’m a stand-up comedian and actor based in Toronto and when I get really wound up about something I take it out on my blog. The last piece I wrote was an open letter to the Prime Minister regarding the current state of stand-up comedy in Canada. Here it is for your reference if you wanna take a dip: http://sandrabattaglini.net/just-a-little-reciprocity/

To recap! Canada is home to some of the best stand-up comedy in the world and a thriving community exists from coast to coast, yet our government does not consider it an art form so it’s not eligible to receive funding. This is truly an erroneous oversight since I can only describe the people in my community to be some of the most magnificent artists I’ve ever had the opportunity to watch create. I attended my first ever Just for Laughs Festival in Montreal this past summer and my peeps were true heroes, representing this art form and our community so elegantly and brilliantly. I’m very proud to be a part of this fellowship.

I keep hearing over and over again that comedy is Canada’s greatest legacy to the world – it certainly is its greatest export especially to the United States. As testament to this, Canada’s own Jim Carey was honoured with the Generation Award at Just for Laughs. He’s part of a glorious list of funny peeps this country has produced. I just found out Rich Little is Canadian. I don’t know why I didn’t know this. Comedians from Canada in America are ubiquitous.

I’ve never been more inspired and lit up than I was at this year’s fest. I’m still reeling. But here’s the dig. Canada hosts a world-class comedy/arts festival that receives funding from the Ministry of Heritage with stand-up being the focus and yet there’s no arts funding for stand-up comedy. What? Can you repeat that Sandra? Sure I can. We host the biggest comedy/arts festival in the world but don’t fund stand-up comedy because it’s not considered art.

So okay. No arts funding. Check! No late night shows. Check. So we say let’s go to the United States. A tonne of opportunity there and they’re not that far away. Not so easy Battasleazy. First, we’re made to endure a very expensive and arduous VISA/Green Card process that costs upwards of $10,000 and that doesn’t even guarantee entry. It’s starting to feel like something’s rotten in the state of Denmark. I know this isn’t Denmark but I’d like to take my Shakespeare moment… I’ve never had one. And Shakespeare gets more funding from the Canadian government than our own comedic voices do. When Americans come to work in Canada they encounter no such barriers. Technically if we want to perform one night of comedy in America we need a $10,000 Visa to do so and we have a ‘free trade’ agreement with these people. More on that later.

See, the thing is there’s no star system in Canada. There’s one in Quebec but not in English Canada. So we feel compelled to go south. The truth is we don’t foster our talent the way the Americans do or the British. At both the HBO and Comedy Central panels at Just For Laughs, the burning question was: What’s your mandate? What do you look for? Answer: TALENT. I can’t remember who said it but talent is their ‘north star’. I love that. Their execs go to comedy clubs to scout talent and look for comics with a strong point of view to build shows around. That doesn’t happen here. The CRTC just lowered the amount of Canadian content requirements to 5%. So naturally we wanna go stateside to be seen and get work.

The Just for Laughs Festival is the greatest celebration of comedy on earth and I love that Canada hosts it. It brings in hundreds of comedians from around the world. The talent this year was breathtaking. What a beautiful tribe to be part of. Being invited to this festival is a huge deal for Canadian comics because there are very few opportunities here for that kind of exposure so it’s very exciting when we get this gig. But the truth is Canadian comedy took a back seat at the fest.

Not one Just for Laughs Awards was handed to a Canadian comic. Jim Carey is Canadian but he’s not a Canadian comic. The bar at the Hyatt featured mini pavilions for Netflix, Funny or Die and Comedy Central that advertised their upcoming line-ups and stand-up specials. Again, not a Canadian to be seen. Why is this? CBC has so much to be proud of this year with their comedy line-up but they had no such display. The Comedy Network advertised their line-up of mostly American shows and Bell hosted a panel with some Youtube stars they’ve taken under their umbrella. It’s the equivalent of the Roman Catholic Church canonizing saints. We had nothing to do with your good deeds and miracles but we’ll bring you under our cannon to make us look holy. There’s a lot of buying of American content in Canada but not a lot of making. There’s something very sick in our collective cultural consciousness here that doesn’t have faith in our own stories or storytellers.

So here we are one year later. Mr. Trudeau has yet to respond to my letter. I’ve sent it to him several times. Tweeted at him. Called him. No dice. I get the picture bro, I’m not your main squeeze. You’re busy approving pipelines, renegotiating NAFTA, meeting popes… it’s a tight schej. I’m sure if my name was Kinder Morgan Sandra Battaglini we would’ve had steak tartare already.

So when I wasn’t getting anywhere with Heir Trudeau, I contacted Heritage Minister Melanie Jolie, my MP Julie Dabrusin (Toronto-Danforth) and the Canada Arts Council. Guess what, I had coffee with my MP and a couple of phone convos with the Canada Arts Council. Julie was cool. She let me know I was the first person from the stand-up community to ever approach her. I was pretty jazzed at first but then realized as comics we do a lot of complaining and not enough speaking up.

Julie wanted to learn more about the stand-up world because she had no awareness of us. I mean she knew we existed but that’s about it. She had some great funding ideas, ie. creative spaces grants that would help venues who support stand-up comedy to pay comics, advertise etc. The Comedy Bar, The Social Capital Theatre and The Corner Comedy Club immediately came to mind. I felt encouraged. I then had a phone conversation with a coordinator at the Canada Arts Council and he was pretty clear they fund art, not entertainment. So what do you consider entertainment I asked? He said sports and I thought I heard strip clubs but that could’ve been my inner monologue. I told him I’ve seen a lot of stuff funded by the CAC and wouldn’t consider it art. He burst out in an awkward laugh. He explained the Canada Arts Council funds comedy only if you define yourself as a theatre artist. Stand-up is the most immediate theatre there is bro. Punto e basta! (That’s Italian for period – the punctuatish not menstruaish)

In 2015 the Canada Arts Council reformulated how it funds art. It used to distribute $154 million in about 4,000 grants and payouts to artists each year through 147 different programs. This seems excessive. They thought so too. According to council director and CEO Simon Brault, for too long the federal agency reacted to any new issue/trend or artistic practice by creating a new discipline based funded program. How was stand-up comedy absent? It’s never been a trend. It’s as old as our consciousness. I can’t tell you how many stories I’ve heard from comics who were denied funding from the CAC. I applied several times and was never granted money. It pissed me off.

As of 2017, the Canada Arts Council has streamlined their arts funding and it looks promising for us. Since my discussions with them, they’ve opened a portfolio on stand-up comedy and are currently familiarizing themselves with it in Ottawa. Let me be clear though, stand-up comedy is yet to be defined as an art form by them but it is under consideration. Here’s what their new funding model looks like. http://canadacouncil.ca/funding

But let me get back to Mr. Primo Ministero, Justin Trudeau for a moment. What do I gotta do to get you to talk to me? Do I have to come down to Ottawa. Cause I’ll do it. Timing is of the essence especially because NAFTA is currently being renegotiated which is really the reason for my blog post today.

I recently learned that Washington controls Canadian oil. It’s outlined in Article 605 of the NAFTA Agreement. Something Brian Mulroney just handed over to the Americans back in 1993. I mean I guess I knew that intuitively but didn’t know it explicitly.

“For more than 20 years, Canadian politicians have largely managed to keep the focus on lumber and cows, distracting us from the truly outrageous aspects of NAFTA: the surrender of Canadian sovereignty in a couple of key areas. Now that Trump is forcing us to renegotiate NAFTA, there’s lots of talk here about how Canada must be tough, and even demand some changes we want.” (Nafta’s Dirty Little Secret: It Lets U.S. Control Canada’s Oil, Linda McQuaig, The Toronto Star)

Washington tried the same thing with Mexico and they shut it down.

“Article 605 was considered such an extreme infringement of national sovereignty that Mexico refused to accept it. Instead, Mexico demanded and was granted an exemption to that clause when it joined NAFTA in 1994.” (Nafta’s Dirty Little Secret…)

So why the hell did we just hand over our petrol like a bunch of pussies? Well we didn’t, Mulroney did and he did it without regard. A defining moment in our history and an erosion of our democracy.

This really characterizes our relationship with the United States. We just keep making more accommodations for them while they continue to impose restrictions on us. And we reward them with our motha’ flowin’ oil. Madonne! I’m losin’ it ova here!

Article 605 of NAFTA states:

(b) the Party [Canada] does not impose a higher price for exports of an energy or basic petrochemical good to that other Party [United States] than the price charged for such good when consumed domestically, by means of any measure such as licenses, fees, taxation and minimum price requirements.

In your face Canada!

When Brian Mulroney was negotiating NAFTA back in the 90s, I remember my father was not into it. He would say, ‘this free tray (he’s an abreever) is no free for us. It’s free for America but no Canada.’ And he was right. He knew the effects it would have on our economy because he worked in the mining industry. He experienced first hand the havoc the ‘free’ market wreaks in people’s everyday lives. I’m being so Marxist right now, I know, but it’s the only way I can explain it.

Marx would have been extremely opposed to ‘free tray’ deals because the further away the owners of the means of production are located, the more estranged and alienated the worker becomes to their livelihood and the citizen to their country. At times I feel an overwhelming sense of helplessness living in a nation that betrayed its citizens by giving so much power to banks, corporations and the biggest mafia of all time, Washington. This deal is so corrupt, that on top of everything I just said, it makes Canadians pay for loss of corporate profits due to stronger environmental regulations, indigenous rights, worker protections and consumer rights. Canada is the most-sued country in the developed world. Are Canadians just a bunch of whores? Maybe.

(Here’s a lovely painting of Karl Marx. Good chest on the man!)

Donald Trump has expressed he wants a better deal for Americans? How much of a better deal could he be looking for when they already have our oil? This is why Trudeau hasn’t made any serious commitments to the environment and why he keeps approving pipelines – the goons in Washington want it that way.

The current NAFTA negotiations are going so badly they’ve extended talks to 2018 largely due to outrageous U.S. demands and oil isn’t even on the table. Oil should always be on the table in case you wanna dip your bread in it. Canada’s Foreign Minister Cynthia Freeland said, “We have seen proposals that would turn back the clock on 23 years of predictability, openness, and collaboration. In some cases, these proposals run counter to World Trade Organization rules. This is troubling.”

So here’s my plea to Prime Minister Trudeau today. On behalf of stand-up comedians, please remove the unfair restrictions on us working in the United States and include us on the list of professions on the NAFTA job list: http://www.tnvisaexpert.com/overview/nafta-job-list/

If we keep allowing our precious commodities like oil and comedy to freely flow to the U.S. without demanding proper compensaish then we have no pride as a nation in what we produce. Let’s not make the same mistake with comedians as we are with oil. Comedians will outlive the fuel based economy. Let’s protect them.

There is absolutely nothing that justifies this incredibly unfair policy. If Americans claim that imposing restrictions on Canadians is necessary because we can take their jobs away, then the same is true in reverso. American comics come to Canada all the time and perform in our clubs and at our festivals. No problem. They don’t even need to produce so much as a letter at the border. Ridiculous right! And let me say it again they control our motha flowin oil. Enough!

This is the same for Canadian actors and musicians. When a Canadian band goes to the U.S., each member has to get a VISA. When American bands come to Canada, they need only one Visa for the entire band. Empire’s a bitch, eh. And Noam Chomsky agrees.

“Free trade agreements are not free at all. The trade system was reconstructed with a very explicit design of putting working people in competition with one another all over the world… [When] Alan Greenspan… testified to Congress, he explained his success in running the economy as based on what he called ‘greater worker insecurity’. Keep workers insecure they’re going to be under control. They are not going to ask for decent wages or decent working conditions, or the opportunity of free association – meaning to unionize. If you keep workers insecure they’re not going to ask for too much. They’ll just be delighted – they won’t even care if they have to have rotten jobs, and by some theory, that’s considered a healthy economy.” (In Requiem for the American Dream, Noam Chomsky)

This sums up the stand-up world in Canada. There’s so much insecurity that comics oblige some of the national clubs when they dictate to us where we can and can not perform. Most of us don’t even make a living wage. When a new club opened in Toronto over a year ago, some comics starting using pseudonyms instead of their real names for advertising purposes so as not to get in trouble with the bigger clubs. I used to be known as Sandy Bertrand for a time. No more. I’m Sandra Battaglini and my name is the only thing I got in this business. This environment of fear suffocates the very art it purports to showcase. And because we don’t have easy access to the U.S. we appease these outdated ways of doing business. When I watch I’m Dying Up Here, I think to myself is Canada 1970s L.A. but without Carson?

The same is true for actors. ACTRA tells its members where they can and cannot work. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to turn down a part in an indie web series that would’ve paid me $100 for a couple of hours because I’m an ACTRA member and it was a non-union production. How can ACTRA tell people not to accept work when they don’t have work to replace it? That is not a union. That $100 multiplied by all the times I’ve had to turn work down because I belong to a so-called union, would’ve amounted to several weeks of groceries and mortgage payments. Never mind the exposure that doing something like this does for an actor. Why do the gatekeepers in this country make it so hard for us to work? I don’t think any Canadian would stand for this. I actually called and emailed ACTRA asking them to stand with us on this issue and they never got back to me. I’m suspish!

Right now Canada is experiencing a comedy boom. We’re bursting at the seams despite our limitations. So much great content is being created online and on TV, ie. LetterKenny, Baroness Von Sketch, Terrific Women just to name a few. Every night thousands of Canadians leave their homes and their devices to watch live comedy and laugh off the hysteria of our times. We are the talent, the NORTH star. So let’s stand-up for our art and celebrate it to maximum capacity. Let’s gain the access we deserve, and the government support that’s due. Let’s take ownership and develop our north stars. Let’s create a structure to ensure Canadian comics can entertain Canadians with their art while living and working in Canada. Let’s ask our politicians to ensure greater ease for comics to tour outside of Canada so they can bring their perspectives to the world, and new perspectives of the world back to Canada. We live in a magnificent country and we can nurture and benefit from uniquely Canadian storytellers, instead of celebrating their achievements elsewhere.

This may seem trivial to people. Oh you just tell jokes, that’s not a job. It is! It’s our livelihood and a force in our economy. Never mind the force it’s been in the American economy. One of the most iconic comedy institutions, SNL, was created by a Canadian after all. Based on that alone America, don’t make it so hard for us. And Canada, the economic spin-off of comedy is huge, ie. transit, food, taxes. So many venues rely on comedy to keep their doors open. It’s a beautiful thing and what keeps our spirits buoyant.

Let’s consider for a moment the larger and more monumental economic benefit of producing content here in Canada with our own talent. Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu and other digital platforms are spending billions of dollars on content creation. It would be foolish for Canada not to pursue a piece of this pie domestically with our natural resources – comedians – instead of taking the less risky tactic of buying stuff for cheap from other countries. This is a serious lack of vision and faith and shall I say downright lazy. Funny people from Canada are a tried and true commodity. As slick as oil and less corrosive to the earth. If the CRTC and Canadian broadcasters can’t get their shit together when it comes to creating Canadian stories by Canadian storytellers (aside from the CBC) then shall I suggest throwing a couple of dollars to us on the front lines who do it every day. I am certain we would create content the likes of which no one could have ever imagined. SCTV and Kids and the Hall are proof positive of our legendary comedic talent.

This Visa issue facing the comedy community here has manufactured a separation between us and our peers in the U.S. and created the kind of competition Chomsky speaks of. We are one community. We create art by stringing together words in such a way that culminates in laughter. It releases so many endorphins, you could say it saves lives. It certainly saved mine.

So many of my peers have made the big move to the U.S. and are gloriously forging a formidable presence there. They’ve been doing that for decades. I just got my O1 Visa so that part really isn’t for me but my community and my country who I stand in solidarity with and who have afforded me the privilege to entertain them.

If Canadian stand-ups were allowed to perform in the U.S. with little or no restrictions, they wouldn’t have to completely up-root their lives. They could tour the U.S. while still living here, instead of leaving Canada a pro and having to start all over in the U.S. I’m not advocating not moving to the U.S., I’m just saying, it doesn’t need to be such a big deal.

EPILOGUE

So I was ready to publish what you just read and then I received a letter from Heritage Minister, Melanie Jolie, the day after returning from Just for Laughs. What timing! I’ve attached it below. While she did the government thing of explaining the wonderful things they do, she took the liberty of forwarding my letter to the Minister of International Trade, François-Phillipe Champagne and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chrystia Freeland. I’m blown away. Also, the Juno Awards has just announced it’s reinstating Comedy Album of the year. This is huge. I know it’s gonna take time but I feel like change is gonna come.

#canadian comedy #nafta canadian oil #blog

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larrytcamp · 6 years ago

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40 things to do in Toronto this weekend

Weekend events in Toronto are ready to kick off some of the biggest events of the year as NXNE and Luminato fill the city with music and art. A new food festival is on at Ontario Place and Dundas West is going car-free for a massive street festival. Markets, parties and sportswatching are all on, too.

Top Picks

June 7

Raptors Tailgate Party

Fresh off their big Game 3 win against the Warriors, the Raps are going for another and it's all going down on the big screen in the Square.

Maple Leaf Square

June 7

Adam Sandler

Funnyman and Netflix regular Adam Sandler is dropping by to perform some comedy and song during the Toronto stop of his tour.

Budweiser Stage

June 7-9

Dundas West Fest

Part of Dundas West is going car-free for two days with a huge street festival that includes music, games, food, drinks, art and shopping.

Dundas Street West

June 7-9

Forks & Barrels

New this year is a food festival with a focus on good food, good vibes and sustainability with $2 drinks and $4 food samples.

Ontario Place

June 7-9

Drake General Store Warehouse Sale

The Drake General Store's famous warehouse sale is back with a huge selection of samples, overstock, antiques and more for cheap.

1082 Queen St. W

June 7-16

NXNE

Music, film and art are taking over the city from parking lots to parks as NXNE returns with performances and free concerts along Yonge St.

Multiple Venues

June 7-23

Luminato

A massive mirror maze is just one of the things happening at this year's Luminato festival with arts, performances and music happening all over the city.

Multiple Venues

Events you might want to check out

June 7

Toronto Harajuku Walk

Japanese street fashion will be out in full force at this annual Harajuku walk and picnic with food, drinks, games and more.

Trinity Bellwoods Park

June 8

Open Tuning

Seaton Village is ready to rock with a full day of local musicians performing everywhere from porches to parks, with everyone welcome to come listen.

Seaton Village

June 8

World Naked Bike Ride

Free yourself from the confines of clothes and take a ride through the city in the name of the environment as part of this international bike ride.

Coronation Park

June 8

Desifest

Desifest is back with a day of free concerts from over 300 artists from across Canada, the U.S., the U.K., India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, GOA and West Indies.

Yonge-Dundas Square

June 8

Roncy Rocks

Artists, vendors, performers and musicians are all coming out for this big street festival that showcases community spirit and local talent.

Roncesvalles Ave

June 8-9

Beaches Arts & Crafts Show

Over 150 artists and designers from all over Canada are showing off their works of photography, paint and sculpture at this huge arts and crafts festival.

Kew Gardens Park

Food & Drink

June 6-7

Leslieville Food & Drink Festival

Three nights of art, music, food and drinks are on as this neighbourhood festival kicks off with a food market, cocktail competition, workshops and more.

Streetcar Crowsnest

June 7

Free Krispy Kreme Doughnuts

National Donut Day is here and Krispy Kreme locations all over Toronto are giving away one free donut per person all day long.

Multiple Venues

June 7-9

Mac and Cheese Festival

Name a more iconic duo as this huge festival serves up gourmet mac and cheese with all the fixin's, courtesy of celeb chefs in the name of charity.

Roundhouse Park

June 8

Grilled Cheese Challenge

It's a grilled cheese throwdown for the ages as local shops duke it out to see who will reign supreme amongst a day of street festival fun.

Lake Shore Blvd

June 8

Royal Mountain Backyard BBQ

Royal Mountain Records is teaming up with NXNE for a day of barbecue and performances by Dizzy, Jayy Grams, Luna Li and more, with free admission.

Royal Mountain Records

June 8

Ontario Craft Beer Week Launch Party

Ontario Craft Beer Week kicks off at breweries across the province and it all starts with a huge party with over 20 local brewers dropping by for a night of fun.

Junction Craft Brewing

June 9

Taste Of Russia Festival

Traditional Russian food is just one part of this big cultural festival with a day of dance, music, performances and arts and shopping.

Mel Lastman Square

June 9

Toronto Taste

Toronto's top chefs are coming out for this annual fundraiser with gourmet goodies up for the tasting, all in support of Second Harvest.

Evergreen Brick Works

Film

June 6-8

Canadian Sport Film Festival

Highlighting athletic prowess and overcoming immense challenges, this film festival looks at Canadian sports and the stories behind them.

TIFF Bell Lightbox

June 6-27

Japanese Film Festival

North America's largest showcase of Japanese cinema is back with two weeks of special screenings and premieres, guests, talks and programming.

Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre

June 7-8

Breakthroughs Film Festival

Short films by women directors are the focus of this annual film festival, with works by local and international filmmakers, Q&As and more.

The Royal Cinema

June 8

Femme Fatale Film Festival

The work of young women filmmakers are showcased during this festival with a collection of shorts and special guest Sofia Bohdanowicz dropping by.

Revue Cinema

Music

June 6-8

Transmit Festival

Concert promoters Transmit are back with three nights of music featuring performances by FEELS FINE, Dilly Dally, Mother Tongues and lots more.

Multiple Venues

June 8

Ghostbusters in Concert

Who you gonna call? The classic 80s comedy is getting the orchestral treatment by conductor Peter Bernstein while the movie plays alongside.

Sony Centre for the Performing Arts

June 8

U.S. Girls

A very special Toronto export, Meghan Remy's sound project uses experimental sounds to mix multiple genres into her unique tunes.

Opera House

June 9

DJ Snake

DJ, producer and all-around hitmaker DJ Snake is arriving to spin the beats poolside at Cabana for an afternoon of fun in the sun.

Cabana Pool Bar

June 9

blackbear

You may know him from his soulful sound and collabs with rap star Gucci Mane, but now the singer is here with his Dead 2 the World tour.

Rebel

Parties

June 7

Friday Night Live

#FNL is back with a party in the museum and this week's theme centres around Indigenous talent with music and dance, plus food, drinks and more.

Royal Ontario Museum

June 8

Sunnyside 21

Sunnyside is back with a day of beachside beats featuring DJ Steve Lawler on deck alongside Arman & Beynon.

Sunnyside Pavilion Cafe

June 9

Promise Cherry Beach

Dance it out at Cherry Beach as Promise returns with local and international DJs spinning the sounds all afternoon long.

Cherry Beach

Markets and pop-ups

June 8

Danforth East Yard & Sidewalk Sale

Danforth Avenue East is having a huge annual sidewalk and yard sale throughout the neighbourhood, plus performances and activities.

Multiple Venues

June 8

Ian Drummond Collection Studio Sale

Vintage clothing lovers are going to want to check out this massive studio sale with tons of incredible finds from nearly every decade in fashion.

IAN DRUMMOND COLLECTION

June 8

The Summer Market

The Parkdale Flea and Toronto Designers Market are coming together for a new summer market with over 80 makers selling a ton of great goodies.

Northern Contemporary Gallery

June 8

Toronto Blogger Bazaar

Raid the closets of Toronto's fashion blogger community at this big clothing sale with lightly used goods for sale with almost nothing over $20.

MogoLounge

June 9

Queer Makers Market

The Gladstone Hotel and Yohomo are teaming for a day of arts and crafts by local queer makers, including clothing, gifts, home decor and more.

Gladstone Hotel

June 9 - October 6

Leslieville Flea

Take a stroll through the historic Distillery District as the Leslie Flea returns to fill the space with a curated selection of vintage and handmade crafts.

Ashbridge Estate

Ongoing events

February 28 - June 9

Ai Weiwei: Unbroken

It's the final weekend to check out artist Ai Weiwei's ceramic creations as Unbroken wraps up an exhibition of eye-opening works.

Gardiner Museum

The post “ 40 things to do in Toronto this weekend” was appeared first on blogTO by Lisa Power

Intravenous Hydration Clinic Toronto Ontario - Dr. Amauri Wellness Centre - Dr. Amauri Caversan

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randylavalley · 6 years ago

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15 things to do in Toronto this week

Events in Toronto this week are ready to party; at the museum, by the beach and on the Island. Electric Island and Sunnyside are back with a new season of fresh beats and there's a huge rib festival. Lots of great musicians dropping by and lots of free stuff is on, too.

Events you might want to check out

May 13

TechTO

Toronto's tech community is coming out for a night on the town with industry leaders dropping by for talks among drinks, food and mingling.

RBC WaterPark Place

May 14

Boyz N The Hood

The film that helped shape the New Jack era of film and Black cinema is screening in honour of its late director John Singleton.

Revue Cinema

May 15

Rice

Celebrating Asian Heritage Month is this comedy showcase featuring Asian comedians Vong Show, Cassie Cao, Leonard Chan and more.

Rivoli

May 16

Imogen Heap

This is the first of two shows (and the one that still has tickets) for the British electro pop singer and her synth-heavy hits.

Queen Elizabeth Theatre

May 16-19

Yonge-Dundas Square Rib Fest

Food, brews, music, activities and more are all on at this huge rib fest in the heart of downtown with ribbers coming by from all over the region.

Younge-Dundas Square

May 16-19

The Shining

Shelley Duvall screaming is a huge mood and this Stanley Kubrick masterpiece/Stephen King disowned classic is screening in 4K.

TIFF Bell Lightbox

May 17

Friday Night Live

Namaste, everyone. FNL is back with a party in the museum themed around its new new special exhibition: The Royal Arts of Jodhpur, India.

Royal Ontario Museum

May 17

Passion Pit

Can you believe it's been ten years since Manners came out? Passion Pit can, and they're calling all sleepyheads to relive the fun of this indie classic.

The Danforth Music Hall

May 17

Bring Me The Horizon

Metalcore is for the kids as UK's Bring Me The Horizon rocks their way to Toronto for some thrashing and smashing jolly good fun.

RBC Echo Beach

May 17

NCT 127

The boys of NCT 127 are ready to drop a cherry bomb on Toronto as they make their Canadian debut with a night of K-pop hits.

Coca-Cola Coliseum

May 18-19

Spring Beerfest

Head to the cottage without leaving the city as Spring Beerfest returns with a weekend of beer, food, music and more down at Fort York.

Fort York: Garrison Common

May 19

Black Owned Food Market

Afro-Caribbean food, drinks, shopping and music is all part of this huge market dedicated to showcasing Black-owned businesses.

Artscape Wychwood Barns

May 19

Electric Island

It's a party on the Island as the first of five Electric Islands returns with a full day of EDM, trance, techno and electro performances.

Hanlan's Point

May 19

Sunnyside 21

Sunnyside is kicking off a season of beachside beats with a party that brings out the best of Toronto's electro scene for a day of grooves.

Sunnyside Pavilion

May 19

Ultimate Summer BBQ Series

The Broadview Hotel is teaming up with Eastbound Brewery Co. to kick off barbecue season with a the first of three all-you-can-eat feasts.

The Broadview Hotel

The post “ 15 things to do in Toronto this week “ was seen first on blogTO.com by Lisa Power

The IV Lounge - IV Therapy Toronto Service Provider

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torontotravelblog · 6 years ago

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Things to do this week in Toronto

What's happening in Toronto April 22-26, 2019

MONDAY, APRIL 22 (EASTER MONDAY)

Spring into Easter at the Toronto Zoo: Join for special on-site animal encounters, daily Meet the Keeper Talks, the chance of catching a glimpse of our Veterinarians at work in the Wildlife Health Centre.

Easter Lunch at Miku Toronto: Celebrate Easter with a special menu only available for Monday.

Easter Day at MARBL: Celebrate this Easter weekend with family and friends. We'll be offering Easter exclusive menu items, as well as perfecting your dinner with a bottle of wine, hand picked by our sommelier.

The Best of The Second City: The Second City’s Touring Company comes home to Toronto for an unforgettable night of classic and original sketch comedy, along with hilarious unscripted improvisation.

Queer and Present Danger Collective: Spring Queening: Hosted by Bethany Daniels featuring Sam Sferrazza, Amethyst Barron and Jade Niles Craig. Headlined by Al Val.

Cher at Scotiabank Arena: Cher performs in Toronto with special guests Nile Rodgers and Chic.

Humber Valley Art Exhibition: This guild from Neilson Park Creative Centre presents an exciting juried art exhibition with a mix of subjects, styles, and media by their highly talented member artists.

The Wow: Fax My Life: The Wow returns for April for an office themed comedy spectacular. Toronto's all-star sketch comedy collective gives you a uniquely themed full-blown spectacle every single month..

TUESDAY, APRIL 23

Gene Domagala's Toronto Places, People and Buildings, Including the Beach: Local historian Gene Domagala reviews Toronto places, people and buildings of interest, including those in the Beach.

The Bourbon Excursion at Jump: Kick off the evening with a welcome cocktail before tucking in to a four-course dinner paired with J.B.’s finest bourbons. Featuring homestyle fare such as Mortadella Lasagna, Tamarack Farm Lamb Shoulder, and Peanut Butter Baked Alaska.

#PitchItYork at Seneca College Newnham Campus: Showcasing York Regions brightest entrepreneurs, Open People Network has partnered with Seneca HELIX for #PitchItYORK! Pitchit is an interactive and fun pitch event to help entrepreneurs showcase their company to potential clients and angel investors.

RSI Leadership Dinner & Dialogue Series: To explore how trusted AI can advance and sustain the competitive advantage of your business and the markets you serve, join our AI-focused dinner and dialogue for C-suite executives.

Caméra Stylo Launch Party! The Cinema Studies Student Union's Undergraduate Journal Caméra Stylo is having their annual launch party.

Kelvin Wetherell at Cafe Mirage: Cafe Mirage Grill and Lounge presents Kelvin Wetherell on Nov 6. The performance runs between 8:00 pm to 11:00 pm in the evenings with a 15 minutes break in between. Cafe Mirage is one of the leading restaurants in Scarborough.

101: Cannabis: Canna-Curious? Learn your CBD’s from your THC’s and join us for a conversation on all things cannabis. Our panelists will be able to answer all of your burning questions: from wellness to entrepreneurship, to education and responsible use.

Hot Breath Karaoke at The Handlebar: Ridiculous game show style karaoke, with prizes.

Westway Christian Church Food Bank: The Westway Christian Church Community Food Bank is open for clients to receive food on Tuesday evenings from 5-7 p.m.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24

Fashion Art Toronto at Daniels Spectrum

Fashion Art Toronto is a showcase of contemporary and experimental fashion and arts The five-day multi-arts experience will inspire and intrigue guests through runway shows, photography exhibits, art installations, live performances and short films.

ALSO ON WEDNESDAY

Once Upon a Refugee: Chapter II - The Unrehearsed Plan: Once Upon a Refugee is a community education event celebrating the experience and contributions of refugees, hosted by North York Community House. The evening will have music, storytelling, food, and theatre.

Etobicoke Voters: Claim Your Right To A Vote That Counts! Fair Vote Toronto presents an information session on voting reform and Proportional Representation.

City of Toronto information session on aerial spray program for Gypsy Moth: The City of Toronto will implement an aerial spray program this spring in seven Toronto wards to protect the tree canopy and vulnerable trees from European Gypsy Moth infestation.

Blockchain Revolution Global: The first truly worldwide conference for blockchain in enterprise. Speakers include Imogen Heap, music maker & founder of Mycelia, who will also perform live at the EBA gala.

An Evening of Poetry Readings with Toronto's New Poet Laureate: Join Toronto's new Poet Laureate for a thought-provoking night of spoken word. In the first public appearance of his laureateship, Toronto's literary ambassador A.F. Moritz will be reading alongside three young poets at The Poet Presentation Centre.

Showtime! Disney Edition at The Drink: A live music showcase featuring performances by Aaron Bell, Michala Todd and Charlotte Ferrarei. This time they'll be serving you live Disney music.

Who run the world? QTBIPOC: A free drop-in workshop series on relationships for youth. Learn skills and connect with other 2SLGBTQ Black, Indigenous and youth of colour (16-29) at this Beyonce-themed workshop series on relationships-- with pals, family, partners and yourself.

THURSDAY, APRIL 25

In Her Voice: Amy Spurway Crow Launch

Please join Amy Spurway in conversation with author Emily Saso at Ben McNally Books as part of the 'In Her Voice' event series. They will be discussing Amy’s debut book Crow, followed by a signing. Books will be available for sale.

ALSO ON THURSDAY

Digifest 2019: Digifest is a three-day design and tech festival as well as a startup event, organized annually by the Digital Media and Gaming Incubator at George Brown College.

Leadership & Social Entrepreneur Knowledge Cafe 2019: Seminar of interest to entrepreneurs, professionals, activists and mentors for the next generation of leaders.

16th Albert Lahmer Memorial Lecture: Andrew Larsen: Join Toronto children's writer Andrew Larsen, author of The Man Who Loved Libraries: the Story of Andrew Carnegie, for the Osborne Collection of Early Children's Books' 16th Albert Lahmer Memorial Lecture.

Art-Bound at Camp Tech: Have you heard about art journaling? Come and find out what the fuss is all about. The Art-Bound workshop is an introduction and exploration of art journaling.

Coco & Cowe presents Coco Con: Media: The second event of the Coco Con series. Catriona Smart and Halla Rafati will be joined by Vanessa Craft, Editor-In-Chief for Elle Canada.

Moonstruck at Bad Dog Comedy Theatre: By way of inspiration, its cast will take the details of one audience member’s dream to create a hilarious and magical show. Completely made up on the spot and never to be repeated, this show is sorta like a dream (no, better).

Cozy Fun Comedy Show at 120 Diner: Featuring: Velvet Wells, Sarah Ashby, Luba Magnus, Jesse Singh, Honey Bennett, Freddie Rivas, Desirée Walsh

RuPaul's Drag Race Viewing Parties: Fans of the hit reality television series can watch new episodes every Thursday at several spots around the city, including Apt 200, The Gladstone Hotel, The Beaver and Striker.

FRIDAY, APRIL 26

András Keller conducts the Royal Conservatory Orchestra at Koerner Hall

Hungarian violinist, Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of Concerto Budapest Symphony Orchestra, and founder of the Keller Quartet András Keller leads The Glenn Gould School’s Royal Conservatory Orchestra.

ALSO ON FRIDAY

Metric with July Talk at Scotiabank Arena: Toronto-based rock bands Metric and July Talk perform in Toronto.

Fairlawn Avenue United Church's 58th Annual Book Sale: Shop for gently used books, DVDs, CDs, and LPs.

David Newland CD Release: Newland's CD release party will take place at Hugh's Room Live.

Toronto Lit Up: Mike Barnes: Join Biblioasis and the Toronto International Festival of Authors in celebrating the release of Mike Barnes’ Braille Rainbow: Poems through Toronto Lit Up!

Dinner for Vegetarians in High Park: Join us to check out the all-vegan restaurant The Goods. Everyone welcome. RSVP via email.

Acid x Untitled presents Justin Cudmore at Black Eagle: Brooklyn's rising star of the Queer techno scene Justin Cudmore joins Aeryn Pfaff and Ceremonial at The Black Eagle. Hosted by Miss Moço. All genders welcome. No room for discrimination.

Flashback Friday: A Time Travel Cabaret: Come witness the past, present and future like you've never seen them before through some of the cities best burlesque, drag and gender performers.

Redwood Comedy Cafe: A weekly comedy showcase featuring Canada's top comedians at the intimate Redwood Cafe in Little India.

ONGOING

Jude Ifesieh presents: 'Beauty in Lines' at Visions Gallery: Jude Ifesieh has developed a unique style, building complex images from a myriad of simple, colourful strokes and dots. His resulting works express the innate beauty of life and nature, bursting with healing energy, fertility and fresh possibilities. Runs until May 12.

Art Show & Sale by Marley Berot at Starving Artist Restaurant: Trini-Ja Canadian Marley Berot is opening her first show at the Starving Artist Restaurant and Gallery at 467 Danforth Avenue. Her acrylic paintings will stay on the walls until May 18.

VideoCabaret: Too Good To Be True: A dark comedy by the marvelous playwright Cliff Cardinal, who recently won Double-Doras, and an Edinburgh festival award for writing and performing Huff. Runs until May 19.

Next to Normal at CAA Theatre: Winner of three Tony Awards, Next to Normal explores a suburban household affected by mental illness. With a gripping story and a surging contemporary rock score, Next to Normal is a raw depiction of a family in crisis trying to overcome the past. In production until May 19.

PRECIOUS: An Exhibition of Contemporary Art and Jewellery: By creating precious artwork and art jewellery from everyday and discarded items, Micah Adams, Christine Dwane and Lawrence Woodford remind us that our world is shaped by the decisions we make. Whether disposable or sustainable, beauty is everywhere. On display through May 23.

Being Japanese Canadian: Reflections on a Broken World at the ROM: Explore the original exhibition through the eyes of curators Bryce Kanbara and Katherine Yamashita. Runs until May 25.

The post “ Things to do this week in Toronto “ was originally seen on toronto.com by Whatson

IV Vitamin Drip Therapy Toronto Clinic - The IV Lounge

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podimouth · 8 years ago

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Everclear Announces Upcoming ‘So Much For The Afterglow Tour 2017′ To Celebrate Iconic Album's 20th Anniversary

You remember that song that was on, pretty much, every teen comedy of the 90′s? Yeah, that was Everclear and that song is called ‘Father of Mine’. Well, here is the deal, the song, or rather, the entire album are turning 20 years! That’s right, that particular song came out in 1997 and 20 years later, stations like The Buzz, The Spot, and Mix are still playing it.

We are not writing about this just for the mere fact that the album is two decades old. Turns out Everclear will be touring in honor of this album. Below you will find the tour dates! Let us know if you end up going!

So Much For The Afterglow 20th Anniversary Tour

5/11 - Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom 5/12 - Seattle, WA @ The Showbox 5/13 - Airway Heights, WA @ Northern Quest Casino 5/14 - Billings, MT @ Pub Station Ballroom 5/16 - Calgary, AB @ Marquee Beer Market & Stage 5/17 - Saskatoon, SK @ O'Brians Event Centre 5/18 - Regina, SK @ Casino Regina 5/19 - Deadwood, SD @ Deadwood Mountain Grand Event Center 5/20 - Denver, CO @ Summit Music Hall 5/21 - Grand Junction, CO @ Two Rivers Convention Center 5/23 - The Colony, TX @ Lava Cantina 5/25 - Des Moines, IA @ Brenton Skating Plaza 5/26 - Welch, MN @ Treasure Island Resort & Casino 5/28 - Kansas City, MO @ CrossroadsKC 5/30 - Cleveland, OH @ Agora Theatre and Ballroom 6/1 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE 6/2 - Arlington Heights, IL @ HOME Bar 6/3 - South Bend, IN @ Four Winds Field 6/4 - Columbus, OH @ Express Live (Fastball only) 6/6 - New York, NY @ Irving Plaza 6/7 - Boston, MA @ House of Blues 6/8 - Portland, ME @ Aura 6/9 - Hampton Beach, NH @ Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom 6/10 - Fairfax, VA @ Celebrate Fairfax! Festival 6/11 - Toronto, ON @ Danforth Music Hall 6/13 - Thunder Bay, ON @ Rockhouse 6/15 - Winnipeg, MB @ Club Regent Event Centre 6/16 - Duluth, MN @ Grandma's Marathon, Canal Park 6/18 - Wichita, KS @ The Cotillion 6/22 - West Siloam Springs, OK @ Cherokee Casino West Siloam Springs 6/23 - New Braunfels, TX @ River Road Ice House 6/24 - Houston, TX @ House of Blues 6/25 - Midland, TX @ Wagner Noel PAC 6/27 - Tempe, AZ @ The Marquee 6/28 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Belasco Theatre 6/29 - Anaheim, CA @ House of Blues

#everclear #live music #music #concerts #podimouth

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fordhampr · 1 year ago

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The first show of Danforth Comedy Festival introduced me to a very funny lady – Mary Kennedy. And yes, she is one of those Kennedys. The headlining comic has performed all over the States (once a dyed in the wool Bostonian, now LA is her home) and appears regularly at Flappers Comedy Club, The Laugh Factory in Los Angeles/Long Beach as well as at the Comedy Store LA/La Jolla, Comedy Chateau, The…

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#actor #comedian #Danforth Comedy Festival #funny lady #Mary Kennedy #stand-up

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newyorktheater · 6 years ago

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Bill Rauch, who last February was appointed the first artistic director of the performing arts center at the World Trade Center in New York, was sitting in a theater near his home some 3,000 miles away in Ashland, Oregon last October watching the final performance of a play in his penultimate season as artistic director of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. In the play, “Manahatta,” a character was warning about the horrors of living in New York: ��Let me tell you something about Manhattan. When you’re not from here, when you’re from somewhere else, this place can be hell. It’ll eat you up….There will be days when you think everyone is against you.” A few days later, sitting in his office on the OSF campus, I recited the line back to him. Bill Rauch laughed. He’s not worried about being eaten up. “I’ve always loved New York. I’m excited about having my family live there,” he said, in front of a framed “YES” hanging on his wall. Next month — next week! — marks the beginning of his final season in Ashland, a season that, as usual, will feature 11 plays (see below), including two plays that he will direct, one of them in both Spanish and English. The season will be marked by the twin concerns, innovation and outreach, that have characterized his entire time at OSF, where he became the fifth artistic director in June, 2007. After that, in August of this year, he will move to New York to begin working full-time planning the Ronald O. Perelman Performance Arts Center, which will open at the World Trade Center in September, 2021 – the twentieth anniversary of 9/11. In the meantime, “I come on average once a month to New York. I meet people – members of the Board, leaders of arts organizations, community organizations. It’s really a lovely time for me to be able to learn, absorb and to dream. I know there will come a time when there will be a locking down for the first season. I’m trying to live in the joy and the freedom of just being able to explore.”

Scene from “Manahatta” by Mary Kathryn Nagle, at OSF 2018. Se-ket-tu-may-qua (Steven Flores) and Dutch trader Jakob (Danforth Comins) exchange furs and wampum on the Lenapes’island home of Manahatta. Photo by Jenny Graham

Aptly, the play “Manahatta” was set within walking distance of the planned center, taking place alternately in 1626 and 2008, both of which are significant – and shameful — dates in New York City’s history, the second the year Wall Street bankers caused the financial crisis, the first the year the Dutch West India Company “purchased” Manhattan from the Lenape (who had no concept of land ownership), . “The Dutch didn’t think the Lenape spoke because they didn’t speak English,” Rauch said. “The exploitation was conducted by Christians and capitalists hand in hand.” “Manahatta” playwright Mary Kathryn Nagle was only the second Native American to be produced at Oregon Shakespeare Festival in its 83 years (the first was in the 2017 season; the third will be in the 2019 season.) It was the kind of play that has marked Rauch’s tenure at Ashland. But such work is unlikely to characterize the programming at the Perelman Center, named after Ronald O. Perelman, the billionaire investor and philanthropist whose $75 million donation in 2016 got the long-delayed project back on track. For one thing, “the Perelman Center will be multidisciplinary.” Its three venues (which are being constructed with the flexibility to combine into two or even one large space) will be home not just for theater, but dance, contemporary chamber opera, music and film (a venue for the Tribeca Film Festival.) While the Oregon Shakespeare Festival dominates its region without much competition, the Perelman will join a growing number of venues for the performing arts in New York competing for attention.

For Rauch, the change sounds…radical. “I’m very aware that New York has a different energy. Some of the most talented artists in the world, both celebrated and early career, are in New York.” On the other hand, the city is hardly foreign territory to him, and not just because Rauch was the director of “All The Way” both in Ashland and on Broadway, where it won the 2014 Tony Award for best play. (The Broadway shows “Head Over Heels” and “Indecent” – which is being revived in Ashland this season — also originated in at OSF during Rauch’s time there.)

Rauch was born in Red Bank, New Jersey (“home of Two River Theater,” he says) and started going to theater in New York at the age of 12 – first, “Shenandoah,” “A Chorus Line,” “The Wiz,” then the Wooster Group and Charles Ludlum. At 13, when his family moved to Westport, Connecticut, he volunteered as a volunteer usher at the Westport Country Playhouse, working up to head usher and janitor by the age of 16. “I was obsessed with theater,” he said. “I became a director because I saw the shows there over and over, like The Master Builder by Ibsen with Jane Alexander and Richard Kiley.” Vincent Price, while performing at Westport, helped cement Rauch’s choice of career. “He made me take my parents backstage and gave them a lecture: ‘There is no profession that requires more of your mind and your heart and your body.’” His senior year at Harvard, “I invited people to be part of a company with me.” That soon segued into Cornerstone Theater, where he served as artistic director for 20 years, until he was hired to lead OSF. Founded as a traveling ensemble adapting classic works to tell the stories of both rural and urban communities, Cornerstone is now based in Los Angeles, but in its early years it had its office on West 23rd Street (“now a bed and breakfast), and performed extensively in the city. Rauch, then living in L.A., was scheduled to be in New York City on September 11, 2001. “I was supposed to fly to New York that day, to attend the Leadership for a Changing World at Ford Foundation. My husband and I had an argument. I wanted to go.” How much, I ask, will 9/11 inform the Perelman Center?

“There’s no way you can start up on that sacred ground, and not have it inform every choice,” Rauch answered. “That doesn’t mean it will be relentless 9/11 art The whole notion is a response to 9/11. It’s about building community and building hope, and bringing people together. It’s about creating work that contributes to the discourse as a society. It’s about expanding what we mean by world trade. That’s the point. And that’s certainly what attracted me to the job.

“I want Perelman to be a local resource for Lower Manhattan – I had no idea how residential Lower Manhattan has become – as well as for all five boroughs of New York. I also want people from all over the world to go to the World Trade Center. I’m excited by the possibility of doing work that’s local and domestic and international, professional and community based; work that interfaces with community will be important to me. That blend will make it unique.”

“PAC” is where the Ronald O. Perelman Center for the Performing Arts will be located on the World Trade Center site.

Bill Rauch’s Last Season at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival Meanwhile, Rauch planned 2019 at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, he said, “under the weight of knowing it was my final season. It was going to be different.”

Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s 2019 season includes

Indecent July 4 – October 27

As You Like It, March 1 – October 26

Macbeth, May 28 – October 11

Alls Well That Ends Well, May 30 – October 13, 2019

Alice in Wonderland May 29 – October 12

Hairspray Marcy 2 – October 27

Between Two Knees April 3 – October 27, 2019

How to Catch Creation July 23 – October 26

Cambodian Rock Band, May 26 – October 27

An encore of Paula Vogel’s Indecent, which began at OSF and went on to win two Tonys on Broadway in 2017.

Three plays by Shakespeare

Eva Le Gallienne’s adaptation of Alice in Wonderland

A revival of the musical “Hairspray”

“Between Two Knees,” a comic retelling of Native American history created by the 1491s, a comedy sketch group made up of a “gaggle of Indians” (the third-authored play at OSF)

“How to Catch Creation,” Christina Anderson’s exploration of the universal act of creation through the experiences of a black, queer, feminist writer

“Cambodian Rock Band,” Lauren Yee’s remarkable play that combines a rock concert with a tale of reconciliation and genocide.

Mother Road March 3 – October 26

La Comedia of Errors June 29 – October 26, 2019

It also features two plays that Rauch will direct himself, which share the same cast. “Mother Road” by Octavio Solis, which opens March 10th, is inspired by John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, now celebrating its 80th anniversary. “The Joad family descendents go back from California to Oklahoma. “ He will also direct La Comedia of Errors, a bilingual adaptation on which he collaborated with Lydia G. Garcia (“My Spanish is above intermediate and below fluent.”). “La Comedia will be touring – a way of reaching low-income communities”—yet more innovation and outreach from Bill Rauch.

Bill Rauch on Leading New York’s Performing Arts Center at the World Trade Center, and Leaving Ashland, Oregon. Bill Rauch, who last February was appointed the first artistic director of the performing arts center at the World Trade Center in New York, was sitting in a theater near his home some 3,000 miles away in Ashland, Oregon last October watching the final performance of a play in his penultimate season as artistic director of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

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fashiontrendin-blog · 7 years ago

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Chloë Grace Moretz's New Film Explores Gay 'Conversion Therapy' In The Trump Era

http://fashion-trendin.com/chloe-grace-moretzs-new-film-explores-gay-conversion-therapy-in-the-trump-era/

Chloë Grace Moretz's New Film Explores Gay 'Conversion Therapy' In The Trump Era

PARK CITY, Utah ― The coming-of-age genre is having a moment, and rightfully so.

Following the success of Oscar-nominated films “Lady Bird” and “Call Me By Your Name” comes Desiree Akhavan’s “The Miseducation of Cameron Post,” which took home the grand jury prize at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival last month. Although it has yet to find a distributor, the film’s contemporary appeal is apparent: The teenage tale revolves around the horrifying realities of so-called conversion therapy, a discredited pseudoscientific practice some say was backed by Vice President Mike Pence. (Pence made statements during his 2000 congressional campaign suggesting he supports conversion therapy, but a spokesman in 2016 said it was “patently false” that Pence “supported or advocated” the practice.)

The movie follows Cameron Post (Chloë Grace Moretz), a 17-year-old girl whose aunt/legal guardian sends her to a camp called God’s Promise after Cameron is caught fooling around with her best (female) friend Coley (Quinn Shephard) in the back seat of a boyfriend’s car on prom night.

God’s Promise, run by conservative brother-sister duo Reverend Rick (John Gallagher Jr.) and Dr. Lydia Marsh (Jennifer Ehle), specializes in therapy that aims to “cure” teens of “same-sex attraction.” There, Cameron grapples not only with her own desires, but the dilemmas of those around her, including commune-raised Jane Fonda (“American Honey” star Sasha Lane), native Lakota teen Adam Red Eagle (Forrest Goodluck of “The Revenant”), and football fanatic Erin (Emily Skeggs of “Fun Home” fame). Through a surprising mix of comedy and drama, Akhavan’s film unravels the pressures young people face to conform to the unfathomable ideals of misguided adults.

“Cameron Post” is based on a 2012 young adult novel by Emily M. Danforth, which centers on a 12-year-old Cameron in the 1990s trying to come to terms with the realization that she’s gay. Although the film adaptation focuses on Cameron as a 17-year-old, the message of the movie and the novel is the same: Yes, conversion therapy is real, and it’s still happening today.

While in Park City for Sundance, I sat down with Chloë Grace Moretz and Sasha Lane to talk about coming-of-age tales in the time of Donald Trump, and what Hollywood’s reckoning means to a younger generation of actors. Unfortunately, ahead of our conversation, a representative informed me that Moretz isn’t answering questions about her controversial movie “I Love You, Daddy” and co-star Louis C.K., who has acknowledged sexual misconduct. When Variety pressed her on the subject earlier, Moretz said, “I could single-in and talk about my experience, but I think it’s more important to talk about the entire movement as a whole.”

Read more on what Moretz had to say about the “entire movement” below:

“The Miseducation of Cameron Post” was my favorite film at the festival. What were your thoughts when you watched it for the first time?

Sasha Lane: I’m so proud of it. I love it so much. I think it hit all the right messages, all the right tones. It was just incredible. I loved watching it. You get so nervous to watch yourself on screen, but a couple minutes in, I was like, man, this is a dope movie.

Chloë Grace Moretz: Yeah, all of us aside, it was just a great movie.

On set, did you have a feeling it would be as impactful as it turned out?

SL: I kind of knew, because especially as we’re filming around election time, you got the sense that, oh shit, we’re really making this movie and it’s very relevant. So, we did get that hunch. But I think I was even still like, wow, this really is something, watching it again.

CM: We all really became the characters and the characters became us. We shot it in 23 days. It was this whirlwind of a movie. We just jumped in and gave our all to every piece of it.

How did it feel, as young actresses in Hollywood, to find roles as dynamic as Cameron and Jane?

SL: I feel like Jane Fonda was kind of the momma bear of the whole group, and I’ve always been that way with my family and my friends. So it was kind of nice to go into that with the mentality of holding everyone together. It’s a nice role to play. Very comforting.

CM: It was a real departure for me from the other things I’ve done in my career, and that was important to me because it was the first movie I did after taking a break for a year. I really wanted to do something that, in a lot of ways, hit close to home [Editor’s note: Moretz has two gay brothers] and was able to show a side of myself that I hadn’t been able to depict on screen. And, in turn, through depicting it on screen, I think I opened my mind up into different areas of my emotionality, and my own depth and perspective on things.

Was it scary at all to jump into this character, Chloe? Some of the scenes you’re in are very raw and, again, very different to what we’ve seen from you.

CM: Completely. You just kind of try to jump in head-first, and if you looked toward the day and thought about the scenes you were about to film, I think you could psych yourself out very easily.

SL: You have to have no fear, you just gotta do it.

CM: Yeah. Just not think and just act on the emotion and the feeling. And it was really easy to do that, especially with Ashley Connor, our cinematographer. Pretty much every scene was just her and the camera, and then us.

SL: And she gave you that space.

What was your research process like? Were you at all surprised conversion therapy is still practiced?

CM: It was shocking for all of us. Even after reading the script, we probably Googled it, too. Like, “Is this real?”

SL: Yeah. Knowing a little bit about it, you’re still like, wait, this is like legit and actually happening? It’s a lot of emotions, man. You feel a lot of empathy. It’s shit. But what this film does is there’s also this kind of other perspective where these people [the counselors] truly feel like what they’re doing is something. Like they’re really helping these people by converting them. You start to think about that, too. It’s kind of a bit of a mind-fuck.

CM: We got really lucky to be able to meet a lot of survivors and to hear their stories. The truth of it is, a lot of the stories they told us, and what they told us happened to them, were almost too dark to put in [the movie]. I mean, they told us even heavier things than what’s in the film, and what’s in the film is already really, really heavy. Again, it’s just the reality to realize that these weren’t stories from 15 years ago, these are stories from four years ago, two years ago, a year ago. Right now, conversion therapy is only illegal in nine states in this country, and it’s only illegal for minors. And New Hampshire, two weeks ago, voted against banning it. [Editor’s note: The New Hampshire House bill to prohibit conversion therapy was defeated by one vote last month.] The reality is Mike Pence is our vice president, Donald Trump is our president, and this administration is not fighting for LGBTQ rights.

Do you feel like now is a good time to release this film because of that reality?

SL: It’s relevant and it’s in people’s faces and it’s impactful. And people can correlate.

CM: I think a headline on one of the reviews was “This Movie Is Mike Pence’s Biggest Nightmare.” And it’s like, yeah, it should be. It should be the administration’s biggest nightmare.

So movies coming out of Hollywood should try to push the limits in terms of testing the administration?

Do you find that the industry is trying to do that ― switch up storytelling to touch on relevant and important issues facing our world today?

CM: I think in some ways, yes. And in a lot of ways, so not.

SL: I think they’re trying.

CM: It’s still hard though to fight. It depends on what part of the industry you’re talking about. There are studio films, streaming services, independent films. You know, there’s more of a conversation [in independent films] that I think’s important. More communication.

The reality is Mike Pence is our vice president, Donald Trump is our president, and this administration is not fighting for LGBTQ rights. Chloë Grace Moretz

Sundance, especially this year, is seemingly highlighting films that are trying to say something about our reality. Whereas, like you mentioned, you see the big studio, superhero movies and you’re like … not so much.

CM: You’re like, hmmm, the gender roles are still super messed up!

SL: Like, what is this even really about?

CM: It’s not about anything!

Within the Time’s Up movement, are you seeing more colleagues come forward to test the boundaries and fight for not only their rights, but the rights of their fellow actresses?

CM: I think people are being held accountable.

SL: That’s the driving force of it.

CM: And the communication. You would never tell people your story even a few years ago, because you were like, well, I feel alone in that. But I think just to realize that you’re not alone — the biggest actresses and actors in this industry, to the smallest actresses and actors in this industry, we’ve all had a story. Everyone had the same things they’ve been going through. And to realize that makes you feel so much more supported. And it also allows you to stand together in solidarity and be like, F this. F the system. Let’s change it. And let heads roll. Heads should roll 100 percent from even the silence. Even if you haven’t acted out or done something, you should be taken out of your position for silencing, because you were aware.

Are the women who’ve spoken out paving a path for you, the younger generation of Hollywood? Or do you feel you’re in that mix too, paving a path for those even younger than you?

CM: I feel like we’re definitely in that mix.

SL: Everyone is starting to speak out, I don’t think it’s an age thing.

CM: In some ways, the younger people are speaking out first because there’s a lot of people that might not have wanted to speak out, since they grew up a part of an industry which was a lot more silent. Now, the fact that everyone is speaking out, it gives the older actresses more courage to say, “Me too. This is what happened to me at that point in time. But I’ve never felt bold enough to acknowledge it.”

What I love about the film, too, is it’s made by women — director, editor, cinematographer, writer. How did that feel to be a part of that female community, which we’re all hoping expands to more and more Hollywood sets?

SL: Badass. Especially because the only two films I’d done before had been made by women, as well. Then going to something that had a woman director and cinematographer, I was like, “Yes, let’s keep this going!” It’s such a good feeling.

CM: It’s right where you want to be at this point and time in the industry. If you’re not making a cognizant decision to work with more diverse directors, and specifically female directors, than you’re making a mistake. It’s something that everyone should be thinking about, and it was definitely in the forefront of our minds.

How do you go about finding roles and pushing your limits in the industry?

SL: For me, it’s all feeling. I have to feel it. If I read a script and I don’t like it or I don’t have any connections to it, or don’t have enough heart in it, I’m not going to do it. I choose very wisely, I feel like.

CM: It’s changed over time for me, you know? Because when you’re younger, you’re just kind of doing a lot of roles to get all the kind of roles under your belt and really try things out. It wasn’t until about two years ago when I really sat back and was like, What do I want to do? Who do I want to work with?

And I saw this massive discrepancy in the industry with diversity, on all fronts — behind the camera, in front of the camera — and it really, really angered me. I had seen with so many studio films that I’ve been making, I would get into these fights, fighting for a female director or fighting for a more diverse cast. And I realized ― why am I having to fight for this? That shouldn’t be a fight! The fact that I’m having to say, “Why aren’t you putting X, Y and Z into an audition? Why aren’t you looking at this director?” And it wasn’t even in their minds to think about it. I was like, OK, I got to step back. I made a very big decision to try and be as proactive with working with female directors and it all worked in my favor.

What do you hope this movie does for not only theatergoers, but those in Hollywood who see it?

SL: Gets them talking, gets them feeling. We keep saying, communication, communication, communication. Knowledge, new perspective, awakening.

CM: Exactly, knowledge. Sometimes you’re put into certain circumstances as a young person or you’re born into a family that you feel like you don’t fit into. Don’t take everything the way it is — you can find your own life. You can create the life that you want to lead. You’re never alone. You can find people who will fill your heart up more than you ever thought was possible, platonically. And those relationships as you grow up are so important. That support. I think that’s very prevalent in this film and it really hits you.

Also, bringing this to the forefront of their mind and going, “This is a massive issue.” Google it, look up the statistics. If you go through conversion therapy, you’re eight times more likely to attempt suicide; you’re three times more likely to use illegal drugs; you’re three times more likely to contract HIV. These are true statistics that you can’t deny and all you have to do is Google it. The fact that people can watch this, and it doesn’t feel like taking medication, and just Google it and educate themselves on it, that’s impactful.

It’s coming-of-age story with a very powerful message. Was that what drew you in?

CM: It’s the same struggle with authority that everyone goes through in high school, but all the sudden you throw one sexual conversion therapy in there and being a young gay person, and you layer it on top. But at its core, whether you’re gay, straight, wherever you come from, you can sit and understand and perceive and be able to relate to it.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

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movietvtechgeeks · 7 years ago

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Latest story from https://movietvtechgeeks.com/sundance-2018-day-5-chloe-moretz-conversion-therapy-ophelia-dark-money/

Sundance 2018 Day 5: Chloë Moretz Conversion Therapy, 'Ophelia' and 'Dark Money'

It's already the middle of the 2018 Sundance Film Festival season, and things are only getting better including Chloë Grace Moretz in The Miseducation of Cameron Post which is a big must see. This is her standout award-winning role so don't be surprised to see it pick up a few awards in 2019. As we previously reported, 16 of the 2018 Academy Award nominations were on films that Sundance had supported so you can expect this one to be yet another.

The Miseducation of Cameron Post

The titular heroine of The Miseducation of Cameron Post seems like any other pretty girl at her high school — until she’s caught making out with another female student and gets sent to an aggressive conversion therapy center. The latest comedy-drama from Sundance vet Desiree Akhavan premiered Monday in the U.S. Dramatic Competition. Chloë Grace Moretz offers a complex, winning performance as Cameron, who is sent to live in a Cuckoo’s Nest–like setting where she befriends the other so-called “bad kids” forced to endure “pray the gay away” treatment. The group of kids, including an amputee who goes by “Jane Fonda” (an affecting Sasha Lane), develop a strong connection and begin to create their own sense of validation, under the watchful eye of a Nurse Ratched–like doctor (Jennifer Ehle) and her gentle brother (John Gallagher Jr.), who the kids learn was once just like them. Fans of Akhavan’s previous rom-com Appropriate Behavior will notice the way she punctuates dramatic scenes with her distinctive humor in the new film, which she co-adapted along with Cecilia Frugiuele from the popular novel by Emily M. Danforth. “I read the book and laughed so hard, and I felt like shit too,” Akhavan told the audience during the Q&A that followed the premiere. “That was the goal.” Moretz, who said that she and Akhavan met with many conversion therapy survivors, added that she was struck by the script’s humor the very first time she read it. “One of our first conversations was about [how] the reality these kids deal with is so heavy, but we wanted the interpersonal relationships to be real and fun,” she said. The director said she was initially terrified of the project because the scope and the ensemble were so big. “I loved the book so much that I wasn’t sure I’d be able to do it,” she shared. “What’s amazing [as] a director is just having good taste and believing in that taste and never wavering in it. It’s a good film because I curated a very good team. I would have been too intimidated to make this without the tools I needed.”

Matangi / Maya / M.I.A.

“Never make films about people who are still alive.” The second-ever screening of a highly anticipated music documentary is news enough, but those who were at the Prospector Theater on Monday night were treated to a double dose of drama. The first part of the program happened on screen in the form of Matangi / Maya / M.I.A., a film that traces the rise of international pop star M.I.A. (aka Maya Arulpragasam) from Sri Lanka to London, from art school to activism, the Super Bowl and beyond. The film was directed by Steve Loveridge, Maya’s schoolmate from when they were both aspiring documentary filmmakers, and includes footage shot by both Loveridge and Maya herself, whose diary-like entries from a trip back to Sri Lanka in 2001 serve as a recurring motif for the narrative. The second part of the program happened on stage, as Loveridge was joined by Arulpragasam for a Q&A session that was notable for the level of candor and tension publicly exhibited by two artists coming to terms with the fruits of their collaboration and friendship. Throughout the 15-minute session, an emotional pendulum swung between them, and between a sense of peaceful accomplishment and tetchy unfinished business. Things started out tame enough as Loveridge talked of their initial connection. “We met at art school at about 1995, doing a fine art degree at Central Saint Martins, and we were specializing in film and video. This girl turned up from out of the blue with pink stilettos and hoop earrings and was like, ‘Hey I’m here.’ I was the shyest person ever, really timid. And it was a really unlikely friendship,” he said. During the ensuing years, they remained friends, and Maya remained more interested in film than music. “She never mentioned doing music or having any aspirations to do anything like make songs. She couldn’t sing,” he said, which elicited an eyebrow raise from Arulpragasam, “and then suddenly out of nowhere, as she says in the film—it happened so fast.” Then Arulpragasam, dressed in a big orange Muppet-shag-furry coat, took the mic. (The two shared a single microphone, and their passing—or stealing—it back and forth became a side drama throughout the session.) Without prompting, she began to share her feelings about the film. “Yesterday when I watched it, I was in shock. Today I feel like I like it,” she said. “Though there are still 300 different edits that I want. I feel like there’s loads of bits of me that don’t need to be there, really.” “I think everything’s there for a reason, and making sense out of chaos was a big part of the job on this,” Loveridge said. When asked about her specific grievances with the film, she continued. “I would change the ending,” she said. “And it would be less about me and more about…” “You can imagine how difficult this has been to make,” Loveridge said, to laughs, after recovering the mic. Then he turned to his subject. “You chose me and that’s what you get,” he said, to which the star smiled, and the audience roared. Arulpragasam was asked about the incident at the 2012 Super Bowl halftime show when she flipped the bird to the television audience, which led to further wrangling over the mic, though Loveridge said it was to protect the artist from saying something she wasn’t supposed to say, per a legal agreement with the NFL. She talked about her lack of representation, with a manager quitting the day before the incident, and a general lack of understanding of the challenges she faces, which she thought wasn’t fully covered by the film. “There really was a lot of stuff he left out. It’s not just misunderstanding from the press, which I think this feels like. It was also inside the industry, and it was chaos everywhere. People go, ‘Well you create it; you create it.’ But it was just sort of not having people that understand all the different communities that went into making up who I was,” she said. Then she looked back over to Loveridge. “It was very difficult to connect the dots,” she said. “But you did well.” Loveridge repaid the compliments, getting teary as he spoke of his friend of two decades. “The toughness and confidence that you have to have, on the street and backstage and in your private and family life, that confidence behind the scenes is even more impressive. The battles that nobody knows about, with record labels and shitty producers and men that don’t give you the credit. I’ve seen you battle through some really difficult things,” he said. “And I think your confidence is really contagious. You make me braver. I think it’s really precious the trust you gave me.” “I haven’t had therapy yet,” Arulpragasam said, eliciting laughs, before grappling in real time with what the film stirred up in her. “It feels like that’s what the art is there for, to work those things out. But the problem is that I haven’t gotten around to just making what I want to make. You just feel like a sponge for the stuff around you. So you get sucked into talking about those things. That’s kind of why this footage is really weird to watch for me. Like the stuff at home, it’s not even my family now. It hasn’t properly been dealt with.” When asked why more entertainers with huge audiences don’t use their fame to speak out about causes they care about, as Arulpragasam has throughout her career, she talked about the importance of her trip back to Sri Lanka and alluded to how things have changed in recent months. “I wasn’t political until I had gone there. Because I didn’t know,” she said. “I think that’s why even people with platforms, their intentions might be good and they might be good people, but they just don’t know what’s going on. Sometimes I felt like there was something wrong with me, that I was seeing all of this craziness and nobody else was. But now I feel like I’m quite normal.” Yet she also talked about working out how and when to express herself. “What’s good anger and what’s not good anger? Everybody was like, ‘Oh my god you need to get a Twitter editor, you can’t have direct access to Twitter,’ which I know you guys say that about Donald Trump. But you said it about me first,” she said, slyly. “I’ve just tried to work what’s ego anger. If your anger is led by ego, then I think it’s shit.” Then Arulpragasam and Loveridge hugged, waved, and handed over their microphone, likely continuing their conversation backstage, and perhaps on other stages to come.

Dark Money

Citizens of the state of Montana have a keen sense of what can go wrong when corporations get involved in politics. In 1912, after a copper mining magnate tried to buy a seat in the U.S. Senate, the state passed one of the first laws prohibiting campaign contributions from corporations. That awareness of the need to prevent the excesses of capitalism has remained with Montanans to this day. Other states passed similar laws in later years, but when the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling was passed down in 2010 — allowing corporations to contribute without disclosure, resulting in unlimited, untraceable “dark money” to pour into campaigns around the country — Montana was the only state that fought back. Kimberly Reed’s Dark Money follows the government officials, journalists, and citizens who stood up for the integrity of the political process in the conservative state. As Reed brought the contributors on stage at the film’s premiere, she expressed her gratitude. She also reminded the audience that these individuals are not so different from the rest of us: “These are everyday heroes — who are working in government, who are journalists — who are taking back our democracy by just paying attention.” “Paying attention” may be a bit easier in a state with Montana’s population, but Reed wants to “show other states how they can pay attention so that every state is as small as Montana [and] we can pay attention to where this money is coming from and crack down on it.” Former Federal Election Commission member Ann M. Ravel said that the most important thing we can all do to help in this effort is to get involved. “You have to be engaged, and you have to get other people engaged too. … Engagement in the political process is the most important way that we can make a difference.” The group shared some ideas on how we can all do a better job of this: Vote. Contribute to candidates that support ideas like clean campaign funding. Volunteer. Support journalism, whether it’s independent or larger news organizations, by paying for subscriptions. Stay informed on campaign finance issues through resources like FollowTheMoney.org and OpenSecrets.org. Support laws that require full disclosure of political candidates’ finances. Get involved with your political party, which is sometimes more effective than focusing on just one specific issue. Run for office yourself. Hold your elected officials accountable, and make them answer questions about campaign finance. Those who worked on this story hope it will act as a case study for others around the country to follow. Reed explained, “Our hope with the film is to show what happened with the microcosm in Montana, but to do so in a way that is inspiring to everybody else in all the other 49 states. … All of us need work on this front.”

Ophelia

Easily one of the most lavishly made films of the 2018 Festival, Ophelia is a feast for the eyes. Adapted from Lisa Klein’s young adult novel, director Claire McCarthy’s retelling of Hamlet through the eyes of its tragic heroine debuted in the Premiere section Monday night. Daisy Ridley makes an appealing period heroine as the lady-in-waiting to the queen (Naomi Watts), who catches the eye of Prince Hamlet (George MacKay) as things in the palace begin to go awry. Forced to keep their affair a secret, many betrayals strike the court, and threaten to destroy a royal family forever, but don’t expect the film to end the way Shakespeare wrote it. This Ophelia is not the doomed teenager we’ve seen countless times. She’s a heroine for this age of female empowerment. McCarthy, whose long red locks resemble those worn by Ridley in the movie, explained that this revisionist look at the familiar story allows viewers to see gender parity through the frame in which women are often shut out of the conversation. “I think there’s a new frontier that we’re moving through when we start to see things through a different point of view by allowing women to have a voice and also to enable to have men have a voice in a different way,” she told the audience after the screening. “In the original play she’s undone by her relationship with Hamlet,” she said. “In this version, we wanted to turn that on its head and create an Ophelia that’s a much more empowered character who takes agency in her life and making choices as opposed to being a victim of them.” Watts, who plays dual roles including Queen Gertrude, agreed that this is a refreshing way to experience the classic story. “It was great to create these fantastic, multi-dimensional parts for women,” she stated. The actress also joked that she read the Cliff Notes of Hamlet and watched the Mel Gibson version of the film in preparation and noted the relevance of the story to modern audiences. “It’s not always easy to put Shakespeare on film,” she said. “The themes of the play and film are still so relevant today. We turned it on its head and drove it through the female point of view. It just makes it unbelievably relevant.” The director spoke about how the location (the spectacular scenery of Czechoslovakia, substituting for Denmark is a highlight) serves as a character in the story. “In some ways, it feels like the original Hamlet and the classic representations of Ophelia –– she’s viewed from above from a God’s eye view, and she’s almost consumed by nature and the world around her,” she shared. “In this version, we wanted to take the camera underwater and put Ophelia’s experience inside the drama. We wanted to see her as part of nature, not just a victim of the world around her.”

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#Chloe Grace Moretz #Dark Money #Featured #Matangi #Miseducation of Cameron Post #Ophelia #Sundance Film Festival

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