Langfield
Entertainment
88 Bloor Street E., Suite 2908, Toronto, ON M4W 3G9
(416) 677-5883
langfieldent@rogers.com
www.langfieldentertainment.com
NEWSLETTER
Updated: June 16, 2005
I’m just loving that it’s
summer. It’s looking like I’ll be going down to the St. Kitts Music
Festival next
week to cover the event – many thanks to the festival for inviting me to come
(check out their site – www.stkittsmusicfestival.com) . With acts like Keshia Chante, Wyclef, Boyz II Men
and Ludacris, you can bet I’ll be really busy! I’ll be gone for
about five days so there will not be a newsletter next week. I’ll not be
able to create the newsletter as well as cover the festival – sure my loyal
readers understand but know that the following week (Thursday, June 30) I’ll
have lots of coverage from the festival.
A couple of really HOT summer events coming up – first the new
Sunday nights at Down One Lounge – this Sunday with Alana Bridgewater
and special guests Dave Mathews and John Campbell. Then in a couple of
week’s there’s a special anniversary party at IRIE – check out all the
details below.
And
a FREE offer from the ladies at
Laser
Rejuvenation Clinic! First to respond to this email WINS!
So, Michael’s off the hook and Destiny’s Child will
be breaking up. Has the world gone mad?! See related articles
below.
This week is full of entertainment news below - MUSIC NEWS, FILM NEWS, TV NEWS, and OTHER NEWS! Have a read and a
scroll! This newsletter is designed to give you some updated
entertainment-related news and provide you with our upcoming event
listings. Welcome to those who are new members. Want your
events listed by date? Check out EVENTS. Want to be removed from
the distribution, click REMOVE.
::HOT EVENTS::
Show
Time Live & Nu-Urban Soul Presents Sunday Nights Inside Down One Lounge
We all know that
America has produced some great talent … now let’s see what Toronto has to offer when it comes to LIVE
music! A weekly live music showcase
featuring Toronto’s finest urban performers each and every Sunday!
This weekend it’s
Toronto’s soul daughter Alana Bridgewater and
special guests Dave Mathews and John Campbell. Want to get away from all the crowds from
the MMVAs? We’re just enough south that
you won’t have a problem with the FREE parking and you’re guaranteed a quality
show. Spend some time with the men and
women of the Nu-Urban-Soul this Father’s Day.
It’s an early night of fun each and every Sunday. Doors open at 8:30 pm. Hosted by Keyth, Music by DJ Nigel ‘B’. Drink Specials all night. This event is brought to you by Carl Lyte,
Keyth Williams.
Great live music +
Good food +
Good pool +
= Good Vibe.
SUNDAY, JUNE 19, 2005
Show Time Live & Nu-Urban Soul presents
ALANA BRIDGEWATER and special guests
DAVE MATHEWS and JOHN CAMPBELL
Down One Lounge
49 Front St. East (between Yonge and Church)
Doors open at 8:30 pm
Cover: $10.00 at the door
Or go to www.showtimelive.ca for $5.00 guest list
Irie 4th Anniversary – Monday, June 27
Carl
Cassell and Sleeman’s bring
us the annual Irie
Anniversary Party on Monday, June 27th. Don’t miss the party on one of the hottest
patios in the city at Irie Food Joint.
Carl will be behind the bush grille serving us goodies to sample items
from his summer menu – not to mention the drink specials he’s got going on –
yummy! The weather is as warm as it’s
going to get, so you just HAVE to come out and help us celebrate. Those that have attended before know it’s a
party not to be missed! Rain or shine
as the patio is covered for our convenience.
The party begins at 10:00 pm. DJ Carl Allen will be spinning the tunes while Kayte Burgess and Adrian Eccleston bring
the live music. Make some new friends
and meet up with some old ones! Let’s
show Carl how proud we are that he’s been around this long bringing us an
example of excellence.
MONDAY,
JUNE 27
IRIE ANNIVERSARY
PARTY
Irie Food Joint
745 Queen Street
W.
10:00 pm
::LASER REJUVENATION SPECIALS::
Laser Rejuvenation’s June Specials
We offer complimentary consultations and will determine which
treatment is suitable for your skin type and concerns. The Laser
Rejuvenation Clinic currently has one of the most advanced laser systems in the
world and is able to provide a multi-faceted and diverse treatment protocol for
various cosmetic skin and dermatological disorders to all age groups. Let
me tell you, these women know what they’re doing and you’ll leave feeling like
you’re a new and improved person.
JUNE SPECIALS
LASER HAIR REMOVAL
Men's Chest or Back
single laser hair removal treatments.
$350+gst
or Package of 6
laser hair removal treatments for
$1995+gst
(package value of $4000)
Package of 8 laser hair removal treatments on Upper lip
$400+gst
(regular price $700)
Package of 6 laser hair removal treatments
on the Underarms
$400+gst
(regular price $1000)
PROTECT YOUR SKIN THIS SUMMER!
You can keep a
wonderful glow all summer long
without exposing
your skin to the harmful UVA & UVB rays.
NOW WHEN YOU BUY
AN AIBRUSH TAN SESSION
GET YOUR SECOND
ONE AT
50% OFF
SKIN CARE PRODUCTS
VIVIER VITAMIN C SERUM OR
ANY PRODUCT CONTAINING SUNSCREEN
NOW 25% OFF
SKIN CARE PRODUCTS
3 products from Intaglio, DerMed, or Obagi
for only $169 plus taxes
*Some products excluded from this offer.
Limit of one Vitamin C per client.
*Promotions not to be used in conjunction with any other offers/promotions.
MICRODERMABRASION
A skin treatment that gently exfoliates the skins
epidermal layer, resulting in skin cell turnover and
Collagen production.
2 treatments for
ONLY $200+gst
COMING IN JULY...INJECTABLE
SPECIAL
25% OFF
RESTYLANETM, JUVEDERMTM, COLLAGEN AND BOTOXTM.
JULY 4TH - 18TH
ONLY!
BOOK EARLY TO
AVOID DISAPPOINTMENT.
CAN BE PURCHASED
FOR FUTURE USE.
*SOME LIMITS
APPLY.
Laser Rejuvenation Clinic
87 Avenue Road, Suite 273
Toronto, Ontario M5R 3R9
(416) 923-0092
Monday, Wednesday, Saturday 10am-6pm
Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 10am-8pm
::THOUGHT::
Motivational Note: The Secret to Getting Motivated in Ten Seconds
Excerpt from www.eurweb.com
- Jason M. Gracia Author of The Motivated Mind
- http://www.motivation123.com/tmm-ez03.html
In the crazy and
fast-paced world we live in today, it's not too hard to imagine that certain
things get lost in the mix. And your plans for a better life are usually one of
the first things to go. It's not that you've given up, it's just that the
little things have a way of swallowing up what really matters. Now, you
obviously can't enjoy a remarkable life if the changes you want to make don't
stand out in your mind every single day. So what's the solution? Symbols.
Symbols include any pictures or physical objects that remind you of the changes
you want to make. They are the key to quickly and easily remembering everything
you need to know in seconds. Seconds? You bet. Just take a look at an old
family photo and you'll see firsthand how quickly the right symbol can bring to
mind thoughts, feelings, and memories. But instead of an old family photo, you
simply have to find pictures and objects that remind you of the great things to
come. Once you have a few symbols, put them in places you pass by all the time.
Your bathroom mirror, kitchen fridge, review mirror etc. This way you'll never
let the small things in life push the big things to the side. While our time
here is wrapping up, you can take this idea one step farther. I can show you
not only how to remember your hopes and dreams but also how to make them happen
without a struggle and without ever relying on willpower. It's a very simple
solution that will give you everything you need to start living the life you have
always wanted to live. It's behind every change I've made in my life and I know
it can do the same for you. Why not take a few minutes to see what it's all
about?
::MUSIC NEWS::
Destiny's Child To Disband
After Tour
Source:
Associated Press
(Jun. 13, 2005) NEW YORK — Staying together was
not part of Destiny's Child's destiny —
the multiplatinum group is splitting up.
In a statement released to MTV News, the trio of Beyoncé, Kelly Rowland
and Michelle Williams announced plans to disband after their world tour ends in
the fall. We have been working together
as Destiny's Child since we were nine, and touring together since we were 14.
After a lot of discussion and some deep soul-searching, we realized that our
current tour has given us the opportunity to leave Destiny's Child on a high
note, united in our friendship and filled with an overwhelming gratitude for
our music, our fans, and each other," the statement said. The group was unavailable for comment today,
but a representative said another statement would be released later in the
day. The break-up of the girl group,
which first debuted as a teenage R&B foursome in 1997, isn't much of a
shocker. Many critics didn't expect the group to exist at all after the
multiplatinum solo debut of Beyoncé in 2003. Her album, Dangerously In Love, won five Grammys and solidified her as a one-name superstar apart
from the group. And the title of
Destiny's Child's latest album — Destiny Fulfilled — appeared to signal
the end was near. In an interview with The
Associated Press in November, the women were noncommittal when asked about
their future.
"I think as far as Destiny's Child, our main focus
is for us to maintain our friendship. And if in three years, five years, 10
years, whenever we decide we wanna do another Destiny's Child record, then we
will do it," Beyoncé said. "But I think our main goal was to do this
next record, and I think we just wanna eventually have kids that play
together." Beyoncé and Rowland have been members of the group since it was formed
in their hometown of Houston. They scored instant success with their debut,
thanks to the hit No No No (Part I). Back then, the founding members also
included LeToya Luckett and LaTavia Roberson.
But after the release of their second album, 1999's The
Writing's On The Wall, Luckett
and Roberson were booted from the group. (The duo later sued the group and
Beyoncé's manager-father, Matthew Knowles, and reached a settlement.) Michelle Williams and Farrah Franklin
replaced Roberson and Luckett the same year, but Franklin was later dropped,
making the group a trio. Among the
group's biggest hits have been Bootylicious, Survivor and Independent Women
(Part I). All of their albums have sold at least one million copies; their
latest has sold more than two million.
Besides Beyoncé, Rowland and Williams have released solo albums — with
less fanfare. Despite the impending
break-up, the women pledged to remain close friends. "After all these wonderful years working together, we
realized that now is the time to pursue our personal goals and solo efforts in
earnest," the statement said. "No matter what happens, we will always
love each other as friends and sisters and will always support each other as
artists. We want to thank all of our fans for their incredible love and support
and hope to see you all again as we continue fulfilling our destinies."
Mijac Found Not Guilty On All Counts
Excerpt from www.eurweb.com
(June 14, 2005) *We can only imagine what kind of
partying was going on in the fleet of black SUVs carrying Michael
Jackson and his family away from the Santa Maria
court house Monday after it was confirmed the singer would not be going to
jail. Networks covering the verdict
kept helicopter footage of the caravan on the screen as it toted the Jackson
clan along the 101 Freeway toward freedom; the sweet sound of “not guilty,”
“not guilty,” not guilty” - still ringing in their ears. It’s finally over. And hopefully, so are the
days of little boys spending the night with Jackson at Neverland Ranch and
sharing his bed. The superstar and his family said nothing as they left the
courthouse immediately after the verdicts were announced to caravan back to the
crib. Jackson, 46, was charged with molesting a 13-year-old cancer survivor in
2003, plying him with wine and conspiring to hold the boy and his family
captive to get them to rebut a damaging television documentary. The jury took about 32 hours and 57 minutes
to find the King of Pop not guilty on one count of conspiracy, four counts of
committing a lewd act upon a minor child, one count of attempting to committing
a lewd act upon a minor child and three counts of
administering an intoxicating agent to assist in the commission of a felony-
which came with lesser offences of providing alcoholic beverage to persons
under the age of 21). Santa Barbara District Attorney Tom “Cold Man” Sneddon
said in a press conference afterward that he’s proud of his office and the
Sheriff’s dept for its “outstanding job of investigating the case.”
Although he was disappointed in the outcome, Sneddon said: “In 37 years, I have
never quarrelled with a jury’s verdict, and I’m not going to start today.” The
DA had not spoken to the accuser or his family, and would not comment on
whether this defeat would be the end of his efforts to convict Jackson.
The jury
had initially issued a statement requesting they be left alone and allowed to
return to their private lives “as anonymously as they came in.” Next thing you
know, the jury was agreeing to address the media en masse in a 10-minute press
conference. Well, those 10 minutes turned into a gracious hour, as the
jurors and alternates addressed various aspects of their
experience. “We were
required to look at some very specific charges in this case,” said juror No. 1,
a grey-haired male. “And one of those charges wasn’t that Michael Jackson was
guilty of sleeping with boys, or he was guilty of having adult material in his
home. Those weren’t the charges in the case, they were all evidence that could
point in one direction or the other. When it came right down to it, we were
required to make our decision on reasonable doubt based on the 10 counts. And I
think we did a good job.” When the jury was asked if their image of Michael had
changed because of the trial, one woman, No. 8. answered: “It’s made me realize
that even though he is a superstar, he is a human. And watching him throughout
this trial, he to me is just a normal person, with everything. It’s not like
he’s way up here and everybody else is down there. He’d be some person that you
could walk up on the street and say, ‘Hey, what’s up.’ It made him real, in my
eyes.” When asked if the accuser and his family came off like a bunch of crooks
trying to scam their way into Jackson’s pocket, a female juror, No. 10, said:
“The thought was definitely there. You couldn’t help but wonder many times,
just things on the timeline; things didn’t add up.”
Juror No.
2, a Latino male, added: “One other thing, too, the mother [of the accuser] -
when she looked at me and snapped her fingers a few times and she says, “You
know how our culture is,” and winks at me - I thought, ‘No, that’s not the way
our culture is.’” Juror 8 jumped
in next. “I feel that as a mother, the values that she has taught them and
they’ve learned, it’s really hard for me to comprehend because I wouldn’t want
any of my children to lie for their own gain.” Meanwhile, Raymone Bain turned up on CNN’s
“Anderson Cooper 360” program to comment on her client’s acquittal.
That’s right, her client. Apparently, she is still employed as Jackson’s
spokesperson despite reports over the weekend that she was fired via a
posting on Jackson’s MJJ Source web site. “I’m so happy because he’s always
maintained his innocence, and I’m happy that we’re here at this day where a
jury of his peers has acquitted him of all these false charges,” she told
Cooper. “I think for right now, Michael should just be able to enjoy himself
and he can deal with all of his strategies and what lies ahead later.”
Mo' Kelly Report: 'Not Guilty' Does NOT Equal
Innocence
Excerpt from www.eurweb.com
(June 14, 2005) In some ways I’m shocked and in other ways I’m not. If you
asked me last week whether I believed Michael Jackson would be found ‘not guilty’ on all ten counts, I would have said
‘no.’ If
you asked me whether I believed Michael Jackson would ultimately end up in jail
… I would have said ‘no.’ So in a way, things turned out as I expected.
Michael Jackson would end up as a free man and move on with his life.
Yet, I did not expect him to be cleared of all charges. Regardless, people’s
opinions are likely unchanged. I know mine isn’t. If you believe he
was guilty on some level, you still do. If you believe he was innocent,
you still do. The verdict doesn’t change anyone’s perceptions and doesn’t
‘vindicate’ Michael as some people might have you believe. What
actually happened between Michael and that child … has not changed …
regardless of your opinion about it or any verdict. A verdict is far from
scientific fact. I disagree with the verdict yet I have nothing respect
for it.
And
here’s why ... Most would agree on the fact that the prosecution did a poor job
in putting together a coherent and thorough case. The burden of proof
lies with the prosecution and they failed to do their job. Does it make
Michael Jackson less of a criminal? No, it means that the prosecution
fell tremendously short in trying to prove the accusations. But again,
falling short doesn’t mean that the accusations were untrue … merely that they
were ultimately unproven. Law is not about truth or reality; merely the
reality of what can be proven. Prosecutorial shortcomings shouldn’t in any way
be used to validate or vindicate Michael Jackson. He was tried, acquitted
and now the world will move on to the next big thing. I remain unchanged
in my opinion of the bigger picture. No verdict either way would have
changed that. Robert Blake was acquitted. OJ was acquitted.
Laurence Powell and Stacey Koon were acquitted. You get my point. Whether
Michael Jackson uses this reprieve to change his behaviour remains to be
seen. Whether Michael finally realizes that his careless and reckless
behaviour is at the root of the problem; remains to be seen. If we find
ourselves discussing any subsequent allegations about Michael Jackson, then
we’ll have our answer. The easiest way to avoid being accused of child
molestation is simply not spending unsupervised time with children in an inappropriate
manner. That much Michael can control … that is if he’s not the sexual
predator that many think him to be. Who knows what happens to Michael
now. He’s free and given another chance to do what’s right or he will
again find himself back where all this started. Maybe now he’s a bit
wiser, a bit smarter and a bit more careful in the way he leads his life.
Then again, I’m not holding my breath. Michael has a long history of bad
decision-making in regard to young boys. I’m not confident that he’ll
finally learn to conduct himself appropriately. If he does, more power to
him. If he doesn’t, this will end badly for him. This story isn’t
over, merely ending one chapter and beginning another. Michael Jackson is a
free man. Michael Jackson was deemed as ‘not guilty.’ But let’s not
confuse that as being ‘innocent.’ The prosecution failed miserably and
that is not to be equated with innocence. That’s ineptitude. Best of luck
Michael, with your newfound freedom. What you do with it will be far more
telling than any verdict given on this day. We shall see.
Innocent, But Can
King Of Pop Ever Recover?
Excerpt from The
Toronto Star - Ashante
Infantry, Entertainment Reporter
(With Files From Star Wire
Services)
(Jun. 15, 2005) Now what? Cleared of charges that he molested a
13-year-old boy, Michael Jackson must now reassemble the shards of his personal
and professional life. Though his
freedom is assured, his future isn't.
The trial heard evidence that the spendthrift pop singer is carrying a
$270 million debt that comes due in December. And the high-priced defence team
that got him exonerated reportedly comes with a $10 million price tag. So, the world's best-selling entertainer, a
gifted songwriter and arranger, needs to get back to the business of making
money — and that means making music.
"I can't believe that Michael is even considering music right
now," said Jackson biographer J. Randy Taborelli. "You just can't put a record out
instantly. You have to be working on it and you have to be creative and he has
not been any of those things. "I
hope that all the fire in his bellyful of music hasn't been extinguished by
this nightmare in his life and that he really wants to continue with his
career, because he's one of the world's great musical treasures and we haven't
had a lot of the good stuff lately."
But can the frail 46-year-old, a shadow of his moonwalking,
crotch-grabbing heyday, still make records that will connect with the youthful
record-buying public? And can he
overcome the prosecution's portrayal of him as a heavy drinker and pornography
collector who has questionable relationships with preadolescent boys,
especially when some members of the jury that exonerated him said they believed
he may have molested boys in the past, just not in the case they were
deliberating?
"You have to look at one step
before that: if nothing was going on could he have a record on the charts, and
that's been a question," said Canadian Idol judge Farley Flex, who has spent his entire career
discovering, promoting and developing new Canadian talent such as Idol runner-up Gary Beals — who was recently
nominated for a 2005 Juno Award.
Jackson has not had a No. 1 hit since 1995's "You Are Not
Alone." In fact, he has never returned to the mega-selling heights of
1983's Thriller,
which sold 51 million copies worldwide and earned him the moniker "King of
Pop." "That Thriller
album doesn't even make sense
how amazing it is," said Flex.
"Every single song is a hit. Everybody has a different favourite.
Everybody knows all the lyrics. And the videos are all stellar." And Jackson, the ultimate crossover artist,
influenced contemporary artists such as 2004's top seller Usher, and Justin
Timberlake, said Vibe music critic Cheo Hodari Coker. "Usher basically followed in the footsteps of Michael
Jackson, just like Michael Jackson owes a tribute to James Brown and Jackie
Wilson," he explained. But once he
was catapulted into the superstar stratosphere, the music seemed to take a
backseat to his increasingly reclusive and eccentric behaviour. Tabloids filled
with tales of his pet chimp, clownish attire and extensive plastic surgery,
dubbing him "Wacko Jacko."
The success of Thriller was the best and worst for the singer, said Stacy Brown,
co-author of the new book Michael Jackson: The Man Behind the Mask.
"He was so hellbent on topping Thriller that he lost all moral sense and musical
sense," said Brown. "He
severed ties with producer Quincy Jones and long-time manager Frank Delio
because he didn't want them to get any of the credit." The next album, Bad (1987), only sold 8 million copies, while the most recent,
Invincible (2001), sold
2.1 million. Hardly a failure, but not up to standard.
"In the early '90s when
Nirvana released Nevermind
and signalled that shift to grunge rock and gangsta rap became popular, Michael
couldn't keep up with that gritty sort of unflinching reality," said
BET.com contributor Bruce Britt. "He was so removed and reclusive and out
of touch with what the normal guy was experiencing that I don't think many fans
black or white could relate to his music anymore." But the right songs could have the eminently
talented singer back on the charts, said Flex.
"He could have a viable project going if there was some sort of overt
connection to what he'd gone through, almost a testimonial in some way. If
people believe that he deserved to be exonerated, then they'll believe that
it's important to hear what he says on his record. "His career lies with those fans who were impacted by
watching him moonwalk and sing as a kid and will always refuse to believe that
he's done anything wrong."
Likeability expert Tim Sanders concurs.
"If he delivers to his fans a record that says thank you for being
there for me and that's the subtext of that record, it will be a huge hit. He
needs to connect with the people who spent hours if not days standing outside
of that courtroom holding up signs to cheer him." And emerging subdued from his courtroom
victory was the right move, added Sanders, whose 2005 book The
Likeability Factor explores the
measurable aspects of likeability, including levels of friendliness, relevance,
empathy and realness. "I was very
pleased with the way Michael behaved yesterday: he was stoic, he understood the
brevity of the situation and he demonstrated empathy by his silence and
non-celebration. "If I were him
I'd study tapes of (American Idol winner) Ruben Studdard, and Usher, to recapture that
youthful spirit he used to have. He cannot re-emerge to the world hurt,
defeated and frail; he has to come back strong." Las Vegas might be a possibility for him to make that strong
comeback. Yesterday, Jack Wishna, who
has a minority interest in Trump's New Frontier Hotel and Casino, said he had
been in talks with Jackson before the trial to perform on the Strip, and hopes
to continue those negotiations. "I
am still interested in bringing his talents to Las Vegas," he said in a
statement. Jackson celebrated wildly on
his website yesterday, where the acquittal was compared to the fall of the
Berlin Wall and Nelson Mandela's release from prison. "Remember this date,
for it is a part of HIStory," says the site.
Edmonton's Music Director William Eddins
Tells His Philosophy For Making Good Music
Excerpt from The Globe and Mail - By
Robert Everett-Green
(June
14, 2005) Daniel Barenboim and I were having lunch. Actually, it just seemed
that way, because William Eddins just
couldn't give me enough of his well-practised impersonation of the famous
pianist and conductor. "He's the only person on earth I'd volunteer to turn
pages for," Eddins said, as if to assure me that imitation is the
sincerest form of respect. "And I've done that more than once." After
a half-hour in Eddins's company, it's hard to imagine him making himself
inconspicuous on stage during someone else's show. He seems to be always in
performance mode, whether musing on his plans for his new job (music director
of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra) or savouring the calamari on his plate. If
music hadn't claimed him, the theatre might have. Eddins, who is 40, may be the
most flamboyant thing to happen to the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra since
British rockers Procol Harum showed up to make a live recording over three
decades ago. Whatever happens during
his tenure, which starts in a public way with a Mozart mini-festival opening
today, it likely won't be dull. "I can't pace myself," he said.
"I'm psychologically incapable of doing that. It's all or nothing."
This is the man who, when asked by the Chicago Tribune magazine to describe
himself in three words or less, said: "Rock 'n' roll." Chicago had 10
years to check out the rock 'n' roll soul of William Eddins, who survived what
he thought was a lousy audition to become assistant conductor to Barenboim at
the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He impressed the town and the critics with his
verve and energy, though the critics sometimes felt his virtuosity at the piano
or with orchestra was short on subtlety. You might think that Eddins's kind of
drama would find its natural place among the storm and thunder of the Romantics.
But he's a classicist at heart, who "despises" the big Tchaikovsky
concertos and could happily live without any further exposure to Wagner or
Bruckner. "I'm perfectly comfortable with a smaller string section,"
he said referring to the diminished (by Chicago standards) group he'll be
leading in Edmonton. "I'm not going to be doing any Mahler anyway. I don't
like it. Woo-hoo! I don't have to do it!"
As
you may have noticed, Eddins's non-faves are mostly Germanic. Virgil Thomson
used to say that American composers tend to choose between the French and
German poles of European music, and Eddins is proof that the same may be at
least half-true of American conductors as well. After Mozart, Beethoven and
Brahms (whom he regards as classicists in a Romantic era), his heroes are
mostly French. He'd rather do Fauré or Debussy than almost anything from
20th-century Vienna, and one of the first pieces that came to mind when I asked
what he'd like to record was Faust et Hélène, a little-known cantata by
Lili Boulanger. "You know that old adage, there are no undiscovered
masterpieces?" he said. "Well, to every rule there's an exception,
and this is the one for me. She was 17 when she wrote it, it won the Prix de
Rome, and it's freaking brilliant." Maybe he's got a soft spot for
precocious people, because he was one himself. He graduated from Rochester's
Eastman School of Music at 18, the youngest age of any graduate in the school's
history. After further studies in conducting, he held positions at the
Minnesota Orchestra (where he was associate conductor), the RTÉ National
Symphony Orchestra of Ireland (where he remains principal guest conductor) and
the Berlin Staatsoper, where he again assisted Barenboim. Five years ago, he
won the triennial Seaver/NEA Conducting Award (worth $50,000 U.S.) that had
previously gone to Kent Nagano and Hugh Wolff. Minnesota is where he still
lives, though he plans to move his family, including his clarinetist wife and
two young sons, to Edmonton in the summer of 2006. He's seen enough of what
Republican rule has done to the public schools in Minnesota, likes the Canadian
style of health care, and hates commuting.
"I'm
tired of going to the airport, of sleeping in someone else's bed, of eating in
restaurants," he said. And after several years in Minnesota, he figures
Edmonton winters will feel like home. His guide in all moves large and small,
he said, is the Tao. The Chinese philosophy of the nameless way and the sage
who does all without doing. It is so close to him, he said, that he had a
Taoist symbol tattooed over his heart. He always wears a ring decorated with a
celestial dragon chasing the pearl of wisdom -- a symbol, he says, of the idea
that "you can never stop learning." How these tokens of serene
understanding relate more deeply to the style of a hard-driving musician may be
for Eddins to know and Edmonton to find out. "For me, it's a philosophy of
life. It's how I try to treat people and to relate to what I'm doing. There's a
lot of cynicism in our business. I know a lot of people who don't seem to have
any joy in what they do. . . . A lot of people have been beaten down by bad
conductors, forced to play bad music in bad halls for sometimes indifferent
audiences." He's got a knack for making connections that can maybe bring
the joy back. His three-concert Mozart Effect series with the ESO looks at
Mozart's influence on such 20th-century neo-classicals as Stravinsky, Jacques
Ibert and Benjamin Britten. "The day I walk on stage and say, 'I'm bored,'
it's over," he said. "I'll put the passion I have into cooking. I'll
open a great restaurant, because I love food." He also loves world music
and progressive rock. He thinks Yes's The Gates of Delirium is "the
best tone poem of the past 40 years." He'd be keen to have Keith
Emerson come to Edmonton as soloist in his own piano concerto. And he's visibly
interested by the news that King Crimson's Adrien Belew is going to premiere
another concerto by the Estonian composer Erki-Sven Tuur. Not that he otherwise
has much interest in what may have happened to European music since Stravinsky
moved to Los Angeles. "At the end of the Weimar Republic, it was like,
'Okay, time to go across the Atlantic and see where the truly creative stuff of
the 20th century was written.' 'Cause it's all over here. Really. Classical
music changed three times in the last century: with Rite of Spring, Rhapsody
in Blue, West Side Story. That's it."
As
for the truly creative stuff being written over here right now, there may be a
time lag ahead. After throwing out a few names -- Aaron Jay Kernis, Christopher
Rouse, Joseph Schwantner -- Eddins confessed that he has neither time nor
interest enough to plough through new scores by people he doesn't know. He's
more interested in recruiting an assistant conductor for the ESO than in
filling the now-vacant job of composer-in-residence. But the ESO probably isn't
looking for someone to drag its audience any further into the 21st century. It
needs and wants someone who can throw some sparks on the podium, excite the
populace, and keep the orchestra on the quiet road of recovery from its
travails of recent years. A rock 'n' roll classicist just might be the man for
the job. William Eddins and the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra perform music by
Mozart and others tonight, Thursday and Saturday at Edmonton's Winspear Centre.
Nearly 400 Bands In North By
Northeast Festival
Excerpt from The Toronto Star - Tabassum
Siddiqui, Staff Reporter
(Jun. 13,
2005) Music festivals can be exhausting. But it's a good kind of tired. Take this past weekend's North by Northeast (NXNE) festival. With
nearly 400 bands playing at 25 local clubs over three nights, that's an awful
lot of music to take in. While this
year's line-up initially seemed disappointing, littered with many of the same
acts that had played Canadian Music Week last March, these last few balmy
nights had revellers packing nearly every venue along Queen St. W. and
beyond. Everyone has their own approach
as to what to see at NXNE, but sometimes it's just easiest — and often most
rewarding — to check in with local artists, from fresh-faced newcomers to scene
veterans, who are making things happen in their own backyard.
Thursday,
June 9
The Most Serene
Republic, The Reverb, 10 p.m.
Even
a good party has its awkward moments. Their appearance at the crammed NOW
Magazine showcase was supposed to be the big coming-out bash for Milton
sextet The Most Serene Republic, newest signees to indie success story Arts
& Crafts (home to Broken Social Scene and its various splinter acts), but
technical problems and a bad case of nerves put a bit of a damper on the
celebrations. Even before they took the
stage, the MSR kids (they're barely out of high school) appeared completely
frazzled, and once they did start playing, their instruments just wouldn't
cooperate. Lanky frontman Adrian Jewett
bantered with the crowd and broke into an delightful impromptu rendition of
Coldplay's "Trouble" during a long lull when guitar problems brought
the set to a standstill, but subsequent keyboard issues and difficulty
triggering a sample during another song threw a wrench into what was otherwise
a high-energy performance by the talented crew. As yet another rising large collective, MSR is already being
compared to the likes of Canadian indie heroes Broken Social Scene and The
Arcade Fire, but their youthful take on oddball alt-pop is encouragingly unique
and fresh. The Napoleon Dynamite-esque
Jewett's nasal vocals are an acquired taste, to be sure, but his spastic
onstage dance moves and infectious energy were a lightning rod for his
bandmates to play off. When things did
work and all six members — including three guitarists, a keyboardist and an
unbelievably ferocious drummer — locked into an ecstatic swirl of sound, you
got the sense that there are very big things to come for these indie-rock
fledglings.
Friday,
June 10
Priya Thomas, Club O.V.,
10 p.m.
Thanks
to the last-minute closing of punk club The 360 last week, all the showcases
scheduled for that venue were moved to Club O.V., a beer hall that time forgot
out in the far reaches of Etobicoke. Artists grumbled there would be next to no
walk-in traffic at the rescheduled venue, as opposed to The 360's prime
location on the Queen W. club strip.
But the show must go on, and if the true mark of a professional is to
just get on with it, then Toronto singer/songwriter Priya Thomas scores full
marks for playing to a half-empty room as if it was a packed house twice the
size. Thomas, a veteran of the local club scene, isn't a folky
girl-with-guitar; she's a rockstar and doesn't care whether you know it or
not. Stalking the stage, the tiny
bleached-blond dynamo growled like PJ Harvey, ably backed by a trio who
translated her alt-pop instincts into something a little heavier. While nearly
all the songs seemed to be in the same driving tempo, many of the hooky new
tracks from her forthcoming record You and Me Against the World Baby seemed
ready-made for radio. Perhaps Thomas,
who is far more acclaimed in the UK than she is here at home, will finally get
the recognition she deserves once the album is released later this summer.
Debaser, 11 p.m.
The
band may be named after a Pixies' song, but rising young local indie-rockers
Debaser take their cues from the dark, angular sounds of the '80s, minus the
synths. Singer Luke Higginson's distinctive wail adds to the moodiness of
Debaser's anthemic rock songs, which are anchored by a killer rhythm
section. The lyrics still need work,
and the band needs to learn that not every song has to be an epic statement.
But any group that can nicely pull off a Joy Division cover
("Transmission") has got to be doing something right. By the time Higginson dedicated aptly-named
set closer "So Long" to The 360, Debaser had managed to fill Club O.V.'s
dance floor with their loyal local following. The quartet of old school chums
has been together for a few years now under various band names, but their
dynamic NXNE set showed that they've gelled into a tight unit that deserves to
find a wider audience when their debut album is completed in the fall.
Saturday, June 11, 2005
Andrew Spice, Art Bar @
The Gladstone Hotel, 10 p.m.
Young
piano balladeer Andrew Spice recently moved back to his hometown of Winnipeg,
but he returned to Toronto specifically for his NXNE set, which was interrupted
by technical glitches and the unfortunate sounds of karaoke filtering in from
the adjacent Gladstone bar. Spice
handled the disruptions like a pro, with deadpan wisecracks to the crowd packed
into every cranny of the tiny brick-walled space. "All the dramatic
moments are being stolen from me," he quipped as the soundman tried to fix
a feedback-laden amplifier that rendered Spice's whispery vocals near-silent
during his first song. But while there
was nothing they could do to silence the overzealous singers next door, once
the technical problems were dealt with, the focus was back on Spice's heart-wrenching
confessionals and stark piano melodies
"Beautiful Creatures," the key track on his recently
re-released Pretty Demons album (produced by local indie queen Emm
Gryner), took on new life thanks to a lilting acoustic guitar melody added by
Jordan Kern, who backed Spice on bass and guitars for most of the set. A highlight of the set was the duo's
beautifully rendered Whiskeytown cover, a surprisingly bouncy choice for the
usually reserved Spice that suggested the singer should raise his lovely voice
more often.
Michie Mee, Drake Hotel,
1 a.m.
In
another casualty of The 360 shutdown, one of the few hop-hop showcases at NXNE
was moved to the swanky front lounge of the Drake Hotel, which could have been
an overcrowded disaster with all the preening hipsters packed into the bar for
Saturday-night drinks. "Where has
she been?" was the refrain throughout the bar as Toronto hip-hop icon
Michie Mee's late-night set approached. The multi-talented musician has long
been tapped to be Canada's great hope for a rap breakthrough (she was the first
Canadian female artist to sign with a U.S. major label), but recent forays into
acting meant that she hadn't been seen on a local stage in some time. Michie wasted no time in turning the packed
Drake crowd's attention away from scoping out each other with a short but
fierce set that reminded everyone why she's known as the First Lady of Canadian
hip-hop and R&B. Backed by a squad
of dancers in matching outfits, the diminutive rapper blazed through a set of
reggae and dancehall-infused numbers, switching between a sing-songy flow and a
harder-edged delivery. With lyrics inspired by her upbringing ("I was born
in Jamaica but made in Canada!") and black empowerment, instead of the
typical bling-and-babes content, Michie managed to lift the spirits and energy
of a crowd exhausted after three long days of NXNE — no mean feat in
itself. She closed her set by saying
she's in the studio working on new material. Hopefully she'll get around to
releasing some of it soon, because we need to hear more from this hip-hop
pioneer.
Hearing Hip Hop History
Source: Associated Press
(Jun. 11,
2005) LOS ANGELES—A young boy asks for the latest from Ludacris. Junior from
Stanton wants to hear some classic Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. Randy from Anaheim is
hankering for political rapper Paris's decade-old "Guerrilla Funk." Veteran DJ Julio G steps away from a glowing
mixing board in the darkened studios of KDAY-FM, surprised and pleased by the last
request. "Wow. I haven't heard
that in a while. That's hip hop," he tells the caller, promising to add
the song to his mix. Nostalgia for the
not-so-long-ago sounds of early rap is kicking in hard for longtime fans who
find themselves left cold by the genre's latest hits. The booming,
marketer-friendly audience in their 20s and 30s is starting to find more mature
alternatives to the ever-young party and gangster rap that populates the pop
charts. KDAY, named after the
groundbreaking 1980s AM rap station, is the nation's first hip-hop oldies radio
station. In Atlanta, WFOX plays "the best jamz of the '80s, '90s and
now" — with Whodini classics sandwiched between R. Kelly and Usher. WFOX doesn't attract a lot of listeners, but
New York urban station WWPR (Power 105.1) is among the top-rated in the market
and plays about three hip-hop or R&B oldies an hour. Nearly every urban radio station around the
country features at least one so-called old school show. L.A.'s dominant KPWR
(Power 106) fills its popular weekday lunch hour with one.
Created
in 1983, KDAY quickly drew national attention for playing a bold mix of
cutting-edge rap around the clock: DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, Boogie
Down Productions, Kid Frost. Now, nostalgic rap fans can hear some of that same
music on the reborn KDAY. The rather weak signal at 93.5 FM "flipped"
to the new format last September after being purchased by privately held
Florida-based Styles Media Group. NWA's "Straight Outta Compton" was
the first song played. Listener Ginger
Silvera, a 22-year-old student, was so enamoured with the station that she
recently stopped by the studio to silently watch the DJs. "Lots of people want to hear that old
stuff. It's real," she said. It's
a format that could take off elsewhere in coming years as advertisers and radio
executives recognize the buying power of aging hip-hop fans and the staying
power of the music generally, said Dana Hall, urban and rhythmic editor for
industry journal Radio & Records. "It's just a matter of time,"
she said. "Hip hop has kind of proven itself. It's not going
away." And though most haven't hit
40 yet, fans who've been around from the beginning are feeling a little bit,
well ... old. Jeff Garcia, the 32-year-old DJ behind Power 106's oldies show,
said he's still enthralled with the Beastie Boys' "Paul Revere." "It's so weird, how you can hear that
and it's 20 years old and you can remember every single lyric — yet you can't
remember to get milk when you go to the store ... It shows that music is part
of you."
Alanis Show Gives Starbucks A Jolt
Excerpt from www.billboard.com - By
Chris M. Walsh, N.Y.
(June 14, 2005) Alanis Morissette played a brief set last night (June 13) at Starbucks on Astor
Place in New York's East Village to launch her new album, "Jagged Little
Pill Acoustic." As previously reported, the re-recorded version
of her iconic 1995 debut will be sold exclusively through the coffee chain for
six weeks before being made available at traditional retail outlets. Greeted by about 120 radio contest winners
and Starbucks employees and executives, Morissette and bandmates Jason Orme and
David Levita ran through the "Jagged Little Pill" staples "Hand
in Pocket," "You Learn" and "Ironic." The songs were immediately recognizable but
offered slight changes, including the "Ironic" lyric "it's
meeting the man of my dreams, then meeting his beautiful husband" -- with
"husband" being substituted in for "wife," drawing laughs
and applause. Starbucks may seem like
an odd venue to play for an artist who has headlined arena tours, but
Morissette thinks this album works well in such a setting. "The acoustic
songs have a coffee-house feel, so I think it fits," she told
Billboard.com after the show. The
decision to first offer the album exclusively through Starbucks has been met
with criticism by music retailers. Most recently, Canada's largest specialist
music retailer, HMV Canada, pulled all her product from its shelves and
returned it to Maverick Records in protest.
But Morissette said she didn't have to be sold on the idea. "I got
it," she said. "I've always been open to alternative ways of sharing
my music and any time there's a paradigm shift like this, I understand that
some people are going to be resistant. It happened with the Internet,
too." Morissette's tour in support
of "Pill Acoustic" began June 7 in Toronto and will wrap July 17 in
Costa Mesa, Calif. Afterward, she plans to get busy on her next studio album.
"I'm ready," she revealed. "I hope to be in the studio soon. I'm
thinking about doing an album that encompasses 20 years of my life. I started
writing when I was nine years old, so I have a lot to draw from."
Music's Idea Of The Century
Excerpt from The Toronto Star - Geoff
Pevere, Artifacts
Take
Harlem's heartbeat, Make a drumbeat, Put it on a record, let it whirl, And
while we listen to it play, Dance with you till day — Dance with you, my sweet
brown Harlem girl. — "Juke Box Love Song," by
Langston Hughes (1959)
(Jun. 11,
2005) One hundred years ago, a wondrous invention made its public debut.
Developed by a Chicagoan named John Gabel, it was called the Automatic
Entertainer, and it played 24 songs for a nickel each. The jukebox was born. And the 20th century was introduced to
one of its most enduring pop-cultural icons.
It wasn't called the jukebox then. It had names such as the "coin
actuated attachment for phonographs" or the "coin operated cylinder
phonograph." "Jukebox"
referred to the kinds of places one tended to encounter these machines, the
"juke joints." These were places where black southern field hands
went to unwind at night. "Jouk" or "jook" was slang for a
place one went to "dance or act wildly" — and indulge in other
pleasures. "Juke joint" was also code for brothel. The Automatic Entertainer marked the second
birth of the coin-operated music machine. In San Francisco, on Nov. 23, 1889, a
cylinder-based music machine, boasting a large horn for amplification, was
installed by Louis Glass at a Sutter St. saloon called the Palais Royal. It
played only one song, but it was a magnet for the thirsty and curious. The coin-operated cylinder phonograph,
sometimes called "the coinograph," made $1,000 (U.S.) in six months,
and the run on patents was on. The
jukebox came out of an intensely productive period in new forms of mass
entertainment. The movies had just arrived, and they, too, were consumed on an
individual, pay-for-play basis. Like the nickelodeon, the jukebox was a
derivation of recording technology perfected by Thomas Alva Edison — and
considered to be lowly proletarian amusement. Neither would stay that way for
long. Mass production and technological
development would deliver the magic of the Automatic Entertainer to joints,
bars, diners and speakeasies across North America. When the old Edison-patented
cylinders were replaced by discs, and as amplification graduated from 40-inch
horns to built-in speakers and record-changing devices increased their song
capacity, jukeboxes became more than a curiosity.
They
became Saturday night entertainment. They were the reason people went to the
joints, and they transformed the social ritual of going to bars. In the early days, when a song finished one
often heard a spoken command from the machine: "Go to the bar and buy
yourself a drink." A number of
companies rushed in to exploit the demand. They had names such as Wurlitzer,
Seeburg and Rock-Ola (named after the amazingly monikered David C. Rockola),
and they competed intensely. Like cars,
jukeboxes changed their designs, names and accessories annually, eventually
adopting styles and designs that said far more about the machine's showbiz role
than its functionality. In the original
juke joints, the boxes played the kinds of music one couldn't hear recordings
of anywhere else: black jazz and blues, hillbilly music, and other genres
shunned by or unknown to the mainstream. This made them essential means of
musical dissemination as well as commercial exploitation, making them
instrumental in the revolution in popular music that would characterize the
20th century. Decades later, white kids
would pop coins into the gaudy, candy-coloured Wurlitzers and Rock-Ola machines
to hear the jumpin' sounds of rhythm and blues and rock 'n' roll — sounds you
couldn't hear on the radio (yet). By
1941, there were nearly 400,000 machines in the United States. Their ability to
deliver swing to the right audience dwarfed that of radio, according to critic
Francis Chase. In the book The
Entertainment Machine, he writes: "One tremendous hit on a jukebox,
most bandleaders now agree, will do as much for a dance band as six solid weeks
of broadcasting, and many of the great dance bands which have come to the front
in recent years have done so on the basis of a jukebox hit." The jukebox was not only a crucial means by
which forms of black and country music were heard by vast new audiences, it
transformed the evolution of popular music.
Not
just an iconographic symbol of 1950s rock culture — think of the way its image
is used as instant nostalgic shorthand in the TV series Happy Days or
George Lucas's American Graffiti — but a key player in the new music's
post-war rise. If the joint was rockin', it was the box that blasted the
beat. In 1949, an Omahan named Todd
Storz, of KOWH radio, sat and watched as kids fed nickel after nickel into
jukeboxes to hear the same songs over and over again. He had an idea. What if
radio were to play songs based on their jukebox turnover? And so another
jukebox-based pop revolution was born. It was called Top 40 radio. In the days before cookie-cutter fast food
joints, jukeboxes could be found wherever people gathered to eat, drink and
dance. They were a magnet for teenagers, a shared entertainment experience and
a way of making one's taste — or cool quotient — known to the entire room. It was also a good way to meet girls.
Lots
of people like to hear an organ, Others like a swing band, so
they say, People go to Carnegie for classics, But I love to hear
a jukebox play. — "I Want a Nickel for the Jukebox," 1944
While
the popular image of the jukebox rests in collective nostalgia of the 1950s —
with the domed and bubble-tubed Wurlitzer 1015 functioning as uber-icon and
collectible — the machine's greatest boom period came earlier. Following the repeal of Prohibition, the
nickel-a-pop jukebox became a vital form of Depression-era entertainment.
Between 1934 and '39, the number of jukeboxes in America leapt from 20,000 to
300,000 (including one on the Queen Mary ocean liner). Crooner Bing Crosby was
the decade's reigning king of coin-operated tunage. Jukeboxes reached their
production peak in 1948. It was the
children of the croon-crazy Depression jukesters, the teenagers of the 1950s,
who would turn the box into a generational icon. Jukeboxes — ubiquitous in malt shops, drugstores, diners and
hangouts — became part of the symbolic landscape of the new teen culture. In 1953's The Wild One, the
leather-clad motorcycle stud played by Marlon Brando delivers his immortal
juvenile delinquent retort to the question "What are you rebelling
against?" Drumming his fingers on
a jukebox, he says, "Whaddaya got?"
Movies such as Gang War and Juke Joint revolved around the
culture of the box. The place where Archie and his comic-book gang gathered —
Pop's Chock'lit Shop — was also home to a Wurlitzer-style jukebox. Yet at the same time that the jukebox became
the shrine of teenage vitality and revolt, it was beginning its decline. Radio had become rock-friendly by the
mid-1950s, and radio could be consumed anywhere, including the car. Television
provided entertainment at home, and portable record players meant that kids
could have their own Top 40 sessions in their bedrooms. Franchised fast-food joints standardized
restaurant decor, and jukeboxes weren't included. While jukeboxes continued to
be mass-produced and sold into the 1970s, by the '80s they had become
artifacts. Like pinball machines, they were nostalgic status symbols of a
bygone era. MP3 players, with their
capacity for thousands of songs, are often likened to personal jukeboxes, but
the very idea of a "personal jukebox" misses the point. In its heyday, the jukebox wasn't just a
music machine but a social experience. It brought people together to dance to
music they couldn't hear elsewhere.
Even one's personal musical choices became part of the public
environment. It may be a museum piece
now, but in its day it changed the way we lived. It provided a distribution for
marginal forms of music, generated a new kind of leisure experience and paved
the way for Top 40 and rock 'n' roll, and it gave a century one of its more
indelible popular icons. You could say
it rocked the world.
MC Lyte Continues To Shine
Excerpt from www.eurweb.com
- (June 9, 2005)
Hip-hop veteran MC Lyte is shining brighter than ever
before. The Brooklyn-bred lyricist, who became the first female rap artist to
go gold (with 1993’s “Ruffneck”), is quite a viable commodity in and around the
entertainment business – years after her last major record company release. She has
a few other “firsts” underway, which we are happy to be the first to official
to report about. Musically, her voice can be heard nearly every single day on a
spirited Old Navy advertisement hawking colourful tunic tops. She also just wrapped a season on the
popular UPN series, “Half & Half,” portraying a no non-sense record company
owner. And she recently added another
feather to her cap as an author of the recently released inspirational tome
“Just My Take.” “I made it for the teenagers and the ladies in their early
twenties,” MC Lyte (born Lana Moorer) told “The RU Report” this week. “By
all means, anyone can read it but I believe it can be especially inspiring for
young adults who have not received many words of advice concerning different
topics.”
“I try to keep
journals but it’s not an easy task when things are not going the way you want
them to in your life, so I always wind up just sitting them down,” she
added. The book, available online at www.officialmclyte.com, is an
inspired work from the groundbreaking lyricist who delivered such hip-hop
classics as “I Cram To Understand U,” “Cha Cha Cha,” “Lyte As A Rock” and the
Missy Elliot-produced “Cold Rock A Party.”
According to Lyte, a special gift prompted her on the path to put her
thoughts into literary form. “Well, one year I got a gift; it was a purple book
with the word ‘CREATE’ on the top and that’s just what I did for 80 days
straight,” she revealed. “I mean every single morning I would write
whatever God put on my heart. A couple of years later a friend of mine
was checking out some of the poems and suggested that I publish it. So
basically, that’s how it went down.” And never one to rest on her laurels, the
34-year old renaissance woman has just signed on to start working on a memoir –
and unlike other celebrity literary projects, she assures us, that hers will
not mince any words. But that’s not it. This summer, the always bold and
courageous MC Lyte will tread onto more uncharted territory with the unveiling
of yet another new project in another new genre: The Lana Moorer Home
Accessories Collection.
That’s pretty self-explanatory.
Designed with William Kenney, the collection will consist of bath accessories
(ranging from soap dishes to shower curtains) for the 2005 season and will
progress to bedding in 2006. We
knew the phenomenal hip-hop woman could create … but not on such a grand
scale. Who would’ve thunk it? “Yeah, I know huh,” she beamed. “It's a
great way for me to express myself. The line is to encourage young folks
to take charge and make decisions as it pertains to their living space. There
are pieces that are subtle and then there are pieces that reflect independence
and forwardness.” So should Martha Stewart watch out? “Absolutely!” she
laughed, then continued, “nah, she's alright, but she caters to a completely
different person.”
The Huntersville,
NC-based Cultural Accents (a division of Cultural Hangups, Inc.) has partnered
with Lyte to develop a line of home accessories under her birth name. “We
wanted to work with someone who was sophisticated, trend setting,
well-recognized and had spiritual beliefs consistent with ours…and she was the
perfect fit,” commented Cynthia P. Ham, the President of Cultural Hangups,
which is currently negotiating with retail chains such as Bed Bath &
Beyond, Kmart and Lowe's. Now that she just wrapped the multi-city Pantene Total
You Tour with gospel superstar Yolanda Adams, poet laureate Nikki Giovanni and
comedienne/radio personality Myra J, the newest announcement couldn’t come at a
better time. “It’s been a great ride and I’m not jumping off the train just
yet,” she quipped. “It only feels like a natural progression for me to go
into other realms, especially acting because I wanted to do that before I even
wanted to rap.” Aside from the UPN foray, MC Lyte has also appeared in the
Lifetime drama “Strong Medicine” and the independently released film “Civil
Brand.” She credits Hollywood hot-shot Yvette Lee Bowser (producer of TV shows
“Half & Half” and “Living Single”) for believing in her talents. “She has
as always been a great supporter of mine. I had a recurring character on
her last sitcom ‘For Your Love’ and now she has created this role just for
me. It’s great to have someone who believes in you.” That boost has enabled Lyte to get great
face time on the show, and she gets to flex her acting muscle in a role that
she has a close affinity too. As record
company head Kai Owens, MC Lyte gets to pay homage to a person that has been
influential in her music career; legendary record company executive Sylvia
Rhone, currently the President of Universal Motown. “She’s the best teacher
when it comes to a female exec,” she said of the woman who guided her career
through six major label album releases.
As far as the hip-hop
music landscape is concerned, Lyte (who once stood at the forefront of the
scene with other pioneers as Salt N’ Pepa, Queen Latifah and YoYo) comments,
“Everyone seems like they’re scared to take chances and scared to make
changes. If you're a female MC and are not part of a clique then you're
not getting an opportunity. Even being part of a clique means nothing;
still no guarantee you're going to hit.” Times have definitely changed. All of the aforementioned acts, if still
recording, have gone the independent route, or have flourished in other genres
(Latifah in jazz, Salt in gospel).
We’re talking about folks who have garnered millions of dollars in
revenues for major record labels. “The
respect for artists has always been wishy-washy throughout time,” Lyte
continued. “Once you get to know the game, you either stay in and play it or
you get out and play your own way.” So what’s next on the horizon for this
bright shining Lyte? ”I’m opening a new and used clothing boutique in LA.
It should be fun, doing the construction part of it now. There’s power in
producing TV and film projects and I want to get my hands wet with that.
Whatever God has me to do, I will.” With Godspeed!
Memorable Performances From Freddie and Beenie
At VP Records Memorial Day Concert
Excerpt from www.eurweb.com - (June 9, 2005)
The VP Records 2nd annual Memorial Day concert which was held on
Sunday May 29 at the Bayfront Park in Downtown, Miami pulled out a massive
crowd which was treated to high powered performances from the likes of Beenie Man and Freddie McGreggor. Other artistes on the massive
line-up represented themselves well and earned tumultuous applause from the
crowd during their respective time slots. Among those were Luciano, Capleton, Sizzla, Buju Banton, Assassin and
Elephant Man.
Before the big
guns exploded on stage, patrons were treated to performances in the afternoon
hours from up and coming acts including Big Yard recording artistes Kyenie, NYE
(formerly known as Marsha), Aaron Silk, Tami Chynn, and Rising Stars 2004
finalist Candy. Veteran reggae crooner Freddie McGreggor was the first major
act to hit the stage. McGregor stamped his class on the proceedings as he ran
through hit after hit. What was most admirable about McGreggor’s performance
was that he interacted with the patrons, and he didn’t rush his songs. He sang
word for word without the usual ‘wheeling up and pulling up’ which is the norm
at shows of this nature. He sprinkled his set with hits from back in the day to
the present. His performance was appreciated as patrons sang along word for word.
His set was spiced with If You Wanna Go, Prophecy, Push Come to Shove, Big
Ship, Revolution ( a tribute to the late Dennis Brown), and Stop Loving You,
Lock it Down, Just Don’t Wanna be Lonely and Uncle Sam. McGreggor’s performance
set the pace for Capleton who kept the fire burning with a blazing inferno of
hits that had patrons all revved up.
He dived into Or Wah
before hitting social commentary with That Day Will Come. Turn it (Fire Time)
from the Mad Instrument Dance rhythm saw the fire man demonstrating to patrons
some new dance moves, including the Fire Box, Tyson and Upper cut. Consuming
and Invasion proceeded Capleton’s crash course in literature, and history
lesson on culture. He came to a climax during his stint with the infectious Who
You Calling Nigger. MC Nuffy hit the stage with his usual antics, as he
introduced Beenie Man. Just the mere mention of Beenie Man’s name sent the
females rushing to the front of the stage. Row like a Boat signalled the start
of an entertaining performance. There seemed to be nothing that Beenie Man
could do wrong, as the crowd rallied in his favour and sang along word for word
to his hits both current and past. From Toy
Friend to Dude (where the females in the crowd filled in for Ms Thing), Beenie
Man was in top form. Crazy Notion from the Headache rhythm, the Bollywood
rhythm hit Red Red Red, the 1990’s chart toppers Romie and Stop Living in the
Past, and the Lady Saw combination The Healing, were just some of the nuggets
that did the trick for Beenie Man. His lesson to the male members of the crowd
on how to make love to their counterparts although a bit suggestive was well
received. Weh Yuh Nuh Fi Do, Breast Specialist, King of the Dancehall, Dance the
Chaka, Chaka Tall and the recent number one hit A Nuh Mi (Frame I and I) put
the lid on a brilliant performance from the dancehall kingpin. Sizzla delivered
the hits that he is known for. During his lengthy performance he was asked by
stage personnel to curtail his performance to accommodate other performers due to
the limited time. He was quite defiant at this request. His conscious tunes
including "Simplicity," "Solid as a Rock," "Rise to
the Occasion," "Be Strong" and "Aint Gonna See Us
Fall" were the ammunition he fired, in his bid to maintain a connection
with the crowd. Assisted by his dance
crew on stage, Elephant Man danced up a storm and climbed atop speaker boxes
much to the delight of the crowd.
He doused them with a
string of hits including Blasé, Signal the Plane, Chaka Chaka Dance, and Pon di
River, Pon Di Bank, before closing out his set with the now familiar We are the
World. Luciano’s cultural messages are always appreciated and at this stage
show, it was no different. Luciano sang his way into the hearts of patrons as
his messages rang loud. He got the ball rolling with Who Can it Be Now, and
then sifted through the rubble to unleash Your World and Mine, One Away Ticket,
Lord Give Me Strength and Sweep over My Soul. In between the performances sound
system selectors spliced in recorded music at various intervals. These included
Supa Meng, Steelie Bashment, Mega Flexx, Island Star, Mighty Samson, Fire
Links, Money D and Onkore. Buju Banton and Assassin brought the curtains down
with high energy performances, at the 2nd annual VP Records Memorial
Day concert. The show was promoted by VP Records in association with Jammin
Productions and Rockers Island Promotions.
Single Minutes: With Anthony Hamilton
Excerpt
from www.eurweb.com - (June
9, 2005) Periodically I will be featuring reflections from recognizable
people in our communities. Today, I am featuring “Single Minutes with singer Anthony Hamilton.” We briefly discussed
Mr. Hamilton’s upbringing in a single-parent household, what kept him motivated
to rise above the odds, as well as his perspective on fatherhood. As you read
on, be open to his thoughts and consider your own childhood experience. You may
find resolve, comfort, or perhaps, pleasant memories.
KW: You are
the product of a single-parent home, correct?
AH: Yes, my mother
raised me, [as well as an] occasional stepfather.
KW: What was it like growing up without a
consistent male presence in your life or was your father involved in your life?
AH: I remember [my father’s] face. I remember
a few pair of shoes, a pair of pants and spending the night at his house once
or twice. For the most part, my mom made sure that I had food. She had to get
on public assistance. She would go out and get a temporary job. She would make
sure we were fed and clothed, and that we had lights, running water, and all
that.
KW: So did most of
your friends in your neighbourhood have a mother and a father in the household?
AH: It was pretty
balanced: Half and half. It wasn’t unheard of to have both parents in the
house.
KW: Growing up, do you
feel like you lacked anything from your childhood in terms of not having a male
presence in your life?
AH: Well, yeah…that
consistent male figure teaching you the valuables of being a man. The
discipline that comes from a man is a little different from [that of] a woman.
The man usually teaches you to survive for the family and when you don’t have
that, you tend to be a little immature in certain areas of your life. And
sometimes, it reflects as you get older.
KW: In addition to
drawing your strength from God, what were some of the motivating factors in
life that helped you along your journey to becoming a world-renowned,
multi-award winning and platinum selling singer?
AH: Always wanting to
have something stuck in my mind [as well as] seeing my mom struggle and not
having the things I think she deserved or not having a better life. [Her] not
having a great husband made me want to grow up and try to create a good
environment for her. Seeing my environment [filled with] broken homes,
alcoholism, and things like that kept me on my path. Because I knew if I had
something I loved I would stay with it. And if I had a chance to blossom it
into anything like a little flower, I knew if I took care of it, it would grow
into something great for me. With that I just stayed with it because I had
nothing else that really made me that happy. Cutting hair was a love of mind, I
stuck with that. Each thing that I feel in love with and stuck with, when I
obtained it, it made me that much more complete. It gave me the incentive to go
on and start creating new avenues. It was just like a walk of faith for me.
KW: Are those pretty
much the kind of values that you try to instill in your children?
AH: Yes, I instill in
my children that no matter what cards you are dealt in life there is never a
dead end. There is always a way to make it better. And to make it better does
not mean to sit around and pray and not walk. Trying faith means to go out and
physically make an effort to change your surroundings, knowing that at the end
of the day this amazing God is looking over you. You have free will to either
be with or be without. It’s up to you to work hard at it and nobody is ever
going to hand you anything of value. They will give you something quick. They
will give you drugs and alcohol, people will even give away sex, but they won’t
give you anything to hold on to that will change your life.
KW: What kind of
insight would you give misguided single fathers out there who don’t have a
relationship with their children?
AH: I would tell them
that you can’t fully get to know yourself without knowing your children.
KW: That is profound!
AH: Your kids show you
who you are. They show you your weaknesses. They show you that life sometimes
seems hard but it is easier to smile if you allow yourself to. And they just
keep you balanced. You can’t fully consider yourself a complete man without
taking care of your kids.
KW: Well, thank you.
AH: Thank you, Miss
Kathy White.
I
personally feel that it is so important to share perhaps a word, sentence, or a
song. We can learn from each other and take in what we can process. I am just
thankful to Mr. Hamilton for allowing us to see a different side of his life
other than the music. God bless you Mr. Hamilton and in the words of Ray
Charles, “Keep doing what you do.”
Contact
Kathy White via e-mail at info@sngleminutes.com.
To get more information and to hear the program, visit www.singleminutes.com.
This article was edited by Feona S. Huff,
publisher of Solo Mommy Magazine and freelance writer for Black Enterprise and
The Network Journal. If you’re interested in her editing your work, contact her
at solomommymag@yahoo.com or thehuffreport@aol.com.
-
4.5 out of 5 STARS
- Chuck Arnold, PEOPLE MAGAZINE, June 13, 2005
"Midon's percussive guitar syncopations and supple, high-flying tenor have
wowed audiences in his regular Joe's Pub appearances." - Jon Pareles, NY
TIMES, June 3, 2005
"Raul Midon's attention-grabbing style trumpets the arrival of a major new
talent."
- Jim Farber, NY DAILY NEWS, May 29, 2005
"At a concert last month, Raul Midon sounded as if he were backed by a
drummer, two guitarists and a trumpet player. But it was just his flamenco,
jazz and classically inspired guitar and his voice, which swoops from falsetto
to horn and back again."
- Caroline Hsu, US NEWS & WORLD REPORT, June 6, 2005
"A badass guitarist [with] a scary-authentic mouth trumpet."
- Adam Perlmuter, GUITAR ONE MAGAZINE, July 2005
"Few albums these days make you stop in your tracks. This one does."
- Gail Mitchell, BILLBOARD, June 11, 2005
To hear
Raul's music and for more info, visit: www.midon.com
Smokey Robinson: ‘Smokin’ On Stage
Excerpt from www.eurweb.com - Adoring fans were hanging from the
rafters last week when Smokey Robinson appeared at the Lehman College
Performing Arts Center. The house was packed. It was filled to capacity with
adoring fans waiting to see the indomitable Smokey Robinson perform. And,
perform he did. Smokey did not disappoint from the moment he stepped on stage
until the moment he stepped off. Smokey was hot! His music pulsated, throbbed
and sizzled prompting the crowd to rise up like a Quiet Storm in tune with Smokey’s heat and
thunder. Smokey went up a notch to high drive with a string of his old hits
that rocked the house and kept his audience “Crusin.” Romance dripped from his
melodic lips as Smokey made one feel like he truly enjoyed “Being with You.” A purveyor of romantic songs,
Smokey has written classics that are undoubtedly some of the best songs in
human history. Prior to getting on the Motown train, Smokey with the Miracles
issued a few singles on the End and Chess labels. One, well known song was “Got
a Job.” Then the group came out with “Shop Around” in the late 1960s. That
proved a springboard to national acclaim and secured a long relationship with the
Motown label. Later the group became Smokey and the Miracles and were
responsible for such upbeat tunes as “Ooo, Baby, Baby,” ”Going to a Go-Go,”
“You Really Got A Hold On Me;” “I Second That Emotion,” “The Way You Do The
Things You Do” and “Baby, Baby Don’t Cry.” Legendary for his lyrical prowess,
Smokey created songs for artists like Mary Wells who made famous “My Guy” and
the Temptations who did a rendition of “My Girl.” Robinson also wrote songs for
Marvin Gaye and the Marvelettes. In 1970, the Miracles came out with the
classic hit “Tears of a Clown.” Smokey Robinson was born in Detroit, Michigan
in February 1940. He has been a singer, songwriter and producer for over three
decades. In great part, it was Robinson’s genius, which helped to put Motown on
the map. A solo act in the 1970s, he became an award winner, which netted him
Grammy Awards and popular acclaim. As the balladeer of love, Smokey is
responsible for songs such as “The Love I Saw In You Was Just A Mirage” and “I
Second That Emotion.”
“I have been
described as one of the most romantic songwriters around,” remarked Smokey
while we chatted backstage. “Sometimes people will say to me “...You have
written so many songs – what do you do when you hear your music playing on the
radio?” I answer: “Why turn it up, of course!” chuckled Smokey, amused by his
own joke. “Since I am a prosaic balladeer, people always ask me what prompts me
to write such romantic tunes. My answer is always the same, its love! Love is
such a deep emotion. Love elicits a lot from you. It makes you do crazy things.
Love will make you stay with a person even when you know you shouldn’t stay. I
write romantic songs because love is a feeling that will be around forever.”
While it is undisputed that Smokey can spin a quixotic tale and smother it in
honeydew, Robinson is diverse and has a multi-faceted musical vision that
consists of do-wop, soul, R&B, Pop and most recently spiritual music. “My
latest CD is a spiritual one. This CD is the very first spiritual CD I have
ever done. It’s called Food for the Spirit,” said the musical genius. “I
believe it’s already in the record stores. I am working on two others. I also
have a compilation of songs that Universal released. That particular CD
contains most of my well-known songs. There are 10 old cuts and 2 brand new
songs. I think people will enjoy it,” claimed the prolific singer/songwriter.
Robinson honed his skills as a poet/songwriter while attending Detroit’s Dwyer
Elementary and continued on into high school. He listened avidly to the soul
and classic pop music of that era, eventually coming up with his own lyrics.
Ultimately, Smokey formed a group called the Matadors and eventually the
Matadors became the Miracles. “You know, I grew up in a house filled with
music. My family listened to all sorts of music. I know many performers started
their music careers in church. And, although my mother went to church, I can’t
say that I learned my music from church” recalled Mr. Robinson. “Nah, it wasn’t
church that got me started in music. It was from being a kid hanging out in the
neighbourhood under the street light with the rest of the kids listening to all
the music and singing together.”
Although, Smokey is
often preoccupied with songwriting and in the recording studio, he insists on finding
time to spend with his fans, which he does, through his tours and concert
dates. “I feel so comfortable when I am on stage because I know all the people
will be out there waiting for me. You know a songwriter does not write all his
songs alone. There is someone there to put the music behind the words and that
has been Marv Tarplin for me. Marv and I have been grovin together for a very long time”
said Robinson. “I absolutely love to do concerts. It’s my chance to reach out
to my fans. I find that exciting! It’s exhilarating! When I am performing my
music, I am able to get feedback and a reaction from the crowd. I love that. I
need to be in touch with my fans on a one-on-one basis. When I perform at
concerts, I get that opportunity. I mean, I do see folks out-and-about when
they approach me for autographs and stuff like that. That’s cool, too. But, I
have to say, I really enjoy performing because I have a great time with my
audiences and its fun for me, too” claimed the living legend. “You know in the
old days, I loved being at Motown. Berry Gordy and I did a lot of good stuff
together but Motown is not what it used to be. It will never be what it used to
be. It used to be the place. It’s not that way anymore. Now, Motown has become
just a fragment of what it once was,” remarked Smokey wistfully. “You know, I think of myself as a life
observer,” claimed the beloved musician. “I like to check out life to see what
is going on. I know that my ability to write the many songs I have and live the
life I live is truly a gift from God. My music is God’s gift to me. Although,
it’s arresting, and even sometimes a labour, it’s my labour of love.”
Of Reggae And Writers
Excerpt from The Globe and Mail - By
Donna Bailey Nurse
(June 15, 2005) ST. ELIZABETH PARISH,
JAMAICA -- One highlight of the annual Calabash
Literary Festival, held at Jake's Resort on Treasure Beach in
Jamaica in the rural parish of St. Elizabeth, is the celebration of reggae
artists. Last year the festival honoured Peter Tosh, and in 2003, it was Bob
Marley. This year, the event, which was
held for three days over the last weekend in May, extolled the gifts of Jimmy Cliff. Picture this: an open-air stage
with a thatched palm roof beneath a flawless sky. Picture also the mystical
arrangement of conch shells and eucalyptus boughs stage front and the jewelled
waters of Calabash Bay rolling out behind.
Occasionally, a stiff gust off the sea snapped the flaps of the vast
white tent that sheltered an audience of 2,000 people. Hundreds more lined the
fence or settled comfortably on the grass. Three reggae musicians -- Billy
Mystic, Wayne Armond and Stevie Golding -- sat centre stage, strumming guitars
and sharing anecdotes about the iconoclastic Cliff. That Sunday afternoon, the
audience was comprised of locals from St. Elizabeth and more than one thousand
Jamaicans who had travelled from across the island. A few dozen Canadians,
Brits and Americans also mingled with visitors from the other Caribbean nations.
Wherever people hailed from, they seemed to know the words of I Can See
Clearly Now, Wonderful World, Beautiful People and The Harder
They Come. The audience sang along with gusto. There was much swaying and
waving of arms. It was a spiritual moment when guitar chords announced the
emotional ballad, Many Rivers to Cross, a song that moved a number of
listeners to tears. There may not be
another literary festival in the world that places such great importance on
music. But Calabash's artistic director, Colin Channer, says Jamaican writers
must honour the country's reggae musicians. "In the Caribbean, the most
important form of storytelling is music," he said. "Music is the
literary medium that dominates."
The festival's explosive opening event -- a
reading under the stars that featured eloquent activists Amiri Baraka and
Linton Kwesi Johnson -- underscored that sentiment. Both Baraka, who is
American, and Johnson, who was born in Jamaica, produce profoundly musical
species of prose. Baraka's massive oeuvre -- plays, poems, fiction, scholarly
writing -- includes Blues People, the seminal history of
African-American music. At 70, Baraka
looks querulous and somewhat diminished, but his voice reverberates with
surprising force: "The nigger computers/ Are duly reporting/ Ghosts ahead/
Ghosts ahead." Would Baraka read
his controversial 9/11 poem, Somebody Blew Up America, that had him
ousted from his position as New Jersey's poet laureate? Apparently, yes, he
would. Next, Johnson recited rhythmic reggae poems from Mi Revalueshanary
Fren, a work that dramatizes the struggles of black Britons in the last
decades of the 20th century. Poetry headlined the second night as well with a
dazzling performance by Jamaica's Stacey Ann Chin, formerly of Broadway's Def
Poetry Jam (and back in New York with a solo show Border/Clash: A Litany
of Desires). Striking a balance between Caribbean and international talent,
the festival showcased major American novelist Russell Banks (The Darling),
and British star Andrea Levy, whose Small Island, a darkly comic tale of
Jamaican immigrants in Britain, swept up a good portion of the year's top
literary prizes. Canadians George Elliott Clarke and Dionne Brand were on hand
as well. The festival bookstore, Novelty
Books, sold out of several titles; sales were up nearly 25 per cent from the
previous year. Cameras were everywhere as documentary teams from Canada, the
United States and Britain vied to cover the excitement -- all of which suggests
that, after five years, the Calabash Literary Festival has come of age.
Channer, a best-selling novelist who
founded the festival in 2001 along with poet Kwame Dawes, agrees the event is
fulfilling its mission. "What
Kwame and I originally set out to do was raise the profile of literature in
Jamaica and the wider Caribbean," he said. "At the same time, we
wanted to change the profile from one that is largely academic to one that is
more popular." Now living in New York, Channer was born in Kingston,
Jamaica, in 1963 and grew up there. His memories of studying literature in his
homeland are not very pleasant. “Literature was not taught as something to be
enjoyed. It was something to be analyzed. A lot of books we had to read because
they had West Indian content and not because they were well written. The
libraries were and still are . . . very under-stocked." According to Channer, Jamaican bookstores
remain equally limited. "It's not like Canada where you can go to Chapters
and see lots of books and go to Indigo and see lots of books and go to World's
Biggest Bookstore and see a whole heap o' books," he said. "Most
bookstores in Jamaica carry textbooks." It was only after settling in the
Bronx in 1982 that Channer began to get excited about the possibilities of
Caribbean literature. Ironically, it was an American novel, The Book of
Jamaica by Russell Banks, that kindled his passion. "I said to myself not only does this
person understand Jamaica, he can really write," said Channer. "It
was actually Banks who made me look at literature a second time. After reading
his work I decided to apprentice myself to writing."
Two novels, one story collection and a
festival (featuring Banks) later, Channer has become one of the most
significant literary figures in the Caribbean, influencing writers in the
islands and those living and working abroad.
In fact, Calabash seems to be developing a special relationship with
Canadian writers. Since the festival's inception many have been invited to
Calabash including Austin Clarke, Olive Senior, Nalo Hopkinson and Tessa McWatt.
This year Dionne Brand read from her poetry and earlier fiction, in addition to
a jazzy excerpt from her recent novel What We All Long For. George
Elliott Clarke was one of four authors on a bill sardonically titled: The Great
Non-American Novel. That just makes
sense, says Channer. "A significant portion of the Caribbean diaspora is
in Canada," he said. "Canada has produced some important
writers." The connection between the two countries may run even deeper, to
a shared sense of values. Like Canada, Jamaica is often referred to as one of
the world's most multicultural countries. Indeed, its national motto -- Out of
Many, One People -- suits Canada nicely as well. Like Canada, Jamaica has deep
international relevance far out of proportion to its population and political
clout. "For one thing, Jamaica has
produced Rasta," says Channer, "the most successful religion of the
20th century. Rasta is so popular it has become secular. Jamaica has also produced
reggae, which is basically Rasta's music department. We have also given the
world signature figures like [pan-Africanist] Marcus Garvey and, of course,
powerful musicians like Bob Marley and Jimmy Cliff. "When writers come to Jamaica it's almost like making a
pilgrimage," says Channer, "to a place that has reached out to them
through music."
Mario Update From Jamaica
Excerpt from www.eurweb.com -
By
Kevin Jackson EURweb Contributor in Jamaica
(June
15, 2005) Alicia Keys once declared: "Mario's
voice is one of the most beautiful I have ever heard." The
voice of the now 19 year-old heartthrob has been making the hearts of young
girls around the world flutter.
Temperatures were raised a few notches when Mario's love ballad “Let Me
Love You” hit the top of the Billboard charts a few months ago. His latest
single “How Could You” is also making gains on the Billboard Hot 100 and
R&B charts. Mario, who performed in
Jamaica recently, says he is a fan of reggae music. The J Records recording
artist who signed a recording contract by the time he was 14, said reggae music
was an art form that he had been fascinated with for a long time. "My family listens to a lot of reggae
music. I do like the sound of it. If you listen to my album ‘Turning Point,’
there is a song I did with Baby Cham. I happen to know his manager and that's
how the hook-up for the song came about," Mario explained. Mario says he would like to collaborate with
Beenie Man or Elephant Man.
Beenie Man is like a legend. His songs make you want to go to the club
and dance. When I look at a performer like Elephant Man, I think of being
creative. His music is incredible."
Mario was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland. He now resides in New
Jersey. He started out by improving his natural vocal skills while singing with
his mother using a karaoke machine at his home. Discovered at the age of 11 in a local talent contest, he
traveled to New York where he met with Clive Davis, formerly of Arista Records,
who had just started his J Records imprint. Mario got a chance to stretch his
vocal chords when he was featured on the soundtrack to the motion picture “Dr.
Doolittle 2.” Afterwards, a guest
performance at Clive Davis' annual Grammy awards party where he sang Stevie
Wonder's “You And I,” became the icing on the cake in sealing a deal with J
Records. "The success I have had was so unexpected. I didn't really get a
chance to think about it," he said.
Mario's debut self-titled album was released in 2002 and featured his
updating of rapper Biz Markie's 1989 Billboard hit “Just A Friend,” which he
renamed “Just A Friend 2002.” The album notched another hit single with “Braid
My Hair.” The success of Mario's debut album led to a guest spot on the popular
Scream tour, which featured other teen stars including Lil Bow Wow, Marques
Houston, B2K and Nick Cannon. The
flight on the journey which he took to stardom to where he is at has proven to
be quite an experience for Mario.
"It
has had its ups and downs. Things have never been perfect but I have learned a
lot along the way," he said. “Turning Point,” his latest album, which has
been certified double platinum, is still a strong seller in the US. “Let Me
Love You,” the first single, spent nine weeks at number one on Billboard's Hot
100 Chart. The song also topped the R&B chart. "’Let Me Love You’ was
about an experience I had. That song just blew up overnight," Mario
said. Apart from Baby Cham, rappers
Juvenile, TI, and Cassidy are featured on “Turning Point.” "This album is different from my
previous album in terms of the collaborations that I did. This album is like a
transition for me and I wanted to go other places. This album is like a turning
point for me, sort of like me coming of age," Mario said. Movie offers are already on the table for
the talented youngster who lists Stevie Wonder, Joe, Michael Jackson and Marvin
Gaye among his musical influences.
"I have some acting projects in the pipeline. There is a movie
called ‘Destination Fame,’ which I will be involved with. As for future plans,
I would like to own my own record label and maybe sign my own reggae
artistes," he said. And for those
teenage girls who have been requesting Mario's songs on the radio, he is very
much single. "I don't have a girlfriend right now. At the moment there
isn't any," he said laughingly.
Mario has been nominated in the 2005 BET Awards. His is up for two
nominations, namely for Viewers Choice Award for the video “Let Me Love You,”
and Best Male R&B Artist.
'Too
Hoot To Handle' From The Hootz: New Hip Hop CD Is Hip Shakin' Fun For Parents
& Kids
Source:
Paula Witt, Shore Fire Media; http://www.shorefire.com/artists/hootz/;
http://www.thehootz.com/
(June 15, 2005) Critics are applauding 'Too Hoot to Handle,' (Koch Records) hailing
it as the funkiest hip-hop album for kids on the market. Many are touting the
album's fun danceable beats and educationally enriched lyrics, which teach
children the "rewards of studying hard, good manners and having
ambition" (NY Daily News). 'Too Hoot to Handle' could possibly be the
harbinger in a new brand of children's music "forging a model of kid rap
that works" (Time Out New York). Check out the feature in the June issue
of XXL Magazine and read below to hear what others are saying:
"[Too
Hoot to Handle] will have little ones singing right along, and older ears (yes,
yours) will appreciate an album that at times sounds like it came from Nelly or
Lauryn Hill."
-Entertainment
Weekly, June 10, 2005
"If
Mariah Carey and LL Cool J did a children's album, it would probably sound a
lot like this."
-Parenting,
April 2005
"Behind
the R&B, funk and rap are educational messages and cultural lessons, but
it's really about the happy-feet beats and smooth R&B. What a hoot!"
-New
York Post, April 9, 2005
"With
simplified beats and sweet melodies 'To Hoot to Handle' delivers rhyme, reggae
and song that parents and kids can enjoy together."
-New
York Daily News, May 26, 2005
"Easily
digestible, nonhazardous funk"
-Time
Out New York, May/June 2005
"A
kid-friendly hip-hop CD featuring classic children's tunes."
-Ebony,
June 2005
"Too
cool."
-Gotham,
June August 2005
"Your
young'uns will be down and trippin' like never before."
-Philadelphia
Daily News, May 24, 2005
Canadian Gigs Announced For
Springsteen Tour
Excerpt from The Globe and Mail
(June 14, 2005) Toronto -- Bruce Springsteen announced three Canadian dates, along with a host of additional
U.S. concerts, for his expanded summer solo tour yesterday. Promoting his new
album Devils
& Dust, the singer-songwriter will play Ottawa
on July 13, Toronto on July 14 and Vancouver on Aug. 13. Staff
The Misunderstanding Of Lauryn Hill
Excerpt from www.eurweb.com
(June 13, 2005) *The audience members at Saturday’s Vibe MusicFest in Atlanta have
unwittingly become the latest victims of Lauryn Hill’s weird behaviour of recent years.
The reclusive
singer emerged from hibernation to take the stage in 60s getup and an apparent
mushroom wig to perform at the event, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
From the opening song, “Doo Wop-That Thing,” it was apparent that the Lauryn
Hill of old - with those unmistakable pipes that powered the “The Miseducation
of Lauryn Hill” album to five Grammys – would not be making an appearance. The Journal-Constitution’s Sonia Murray said
“her band was distorted, and her usually full, soulful voice was unusually raw
and weakened.” After plodding through
three more “Miseducation” tunes and reciting a poem, Hill abruptly bounced to a
round of silence. “No applause. No boos. No anything, except perhaps
stunned silence,” wrote Murray. The venue’s curfew was soon tossed around as a
possible reason for the sudden ending.
Wearing an afro, oversized lashes and black turtleneck under a gray,
scoop-neck sweater, Hill also appeared on the pre-taped season premiere of
HBO’s “Russell Simmons presents Def Poetry” that aired Friday night. Greeted
with a standing ovation, she barely looked up from her notes while reciting a
poem entitled “Motives and Thoughts.” When it was over, Hill said “thank
you,” straightened her papers and gave the audience a slight grin.
Ice Cube Featured On
'A Conversation With..." Talks New Movies
Excerpt from www.allhiphop.com - By Tiffany Hamilton
and Houston Williams
(June 10, 20050 Hip-Hop veteran and celebrated
actor Ice Cube is joining the ranks of Laurence
Fishburne and Jeffrey Wright by being featured at this year's "A
Conversation With…", sponsored by Time Warner. "A Conversation With…" is a 45 minute on-stage
interview with a celebrated actor that gives the audience a candid, penetrating,
and insiders view into the art of acting. The feature is scheduled to take
place in on Friday July 15th at the Lincoln Theatre in Washington DC. In
related Ice Cube movie news, the rapper will soon start production on "The
Extractors" and "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House," a remake
of the 1948 comedy that starred iconic actor Carey Grant. “We are going to make
our version so fly that you won't even be able to tell it's a spin off of the
old movie, because that film was made in 1948,” Ice Cube told AllHipHop.com.
“We are in the process of writing it now, we haven't actually started
production because we are trying to get the script right.” The film is being
directed by Steve Carr, who also directed Cube’s “Next Friday” as well as
“Daddy Daycare” and a new movie starring Martin Lawrence, titled “Rebound.”
Usher Unveils His ‘New Look’
Excerpt from www.eurweb.com
(June 13, 2005) *Usher
is now caught up in a new non-profit organization he founded with hopes of
giving disadvantaged youth a new outlook on life - thus, its name Usher’s New Look, Inc. (www.ushersnewlook.org).
The foundation, unveiled during a recent press conference in New York, seeks to
school youngsters on the various behind-the-scenes careers available within the
sports and entertainment industries. "From
a young age, I envisioned a life in the entertainment industry, and thankfully
I was able to make that dream a reality." Usher explains. "But many
kids with that dream do not have the opportunity to perform on stage or in an
arena. In my thirteen years in this industry, I've been blessed with an
incredible support system, and it's important to me to show these kids the wide
variety of amazing careers available to them and to help give them a new look
for the future." A fundraiser for the foundation will be held at New York
City’s Capitale on July 8. The event precedes the organization’s first
initiative Camp New Look, a free two-week resident sports and entertainment
camp on the campus of Clark Atlanta University to be held July 11- 23. Some 150
participants (ages 9-17) will be introduced to producers, stylists, athletic
trainers, lawyers, equipment manufacturers and others who shape the sports and
entertainment industries. An All-Star Celebrity Basketball Game and Half-Time
Show will also take place during the two-week camp.
R. Kelly Album Locked And Loaded
Excerpt from www.eurweb.com
(June 14, 2005) R.
Kelly’s 10th album “TP.3
Reloaded” is ready for its July 5th introduction to the world. The 19-track set from Jive Records features
guest appearances from Snoop Dogg, the Game, Elephant Man, Nivea, Baby and
Twista. The five-chapter opera, “Trapped in the Closet,” has served as
the disc’s collective lead single and appears in numerical order as the last
five songs on the album. "He
wanted to do something unconventional [that recalled when] radio was an
important part of people's lives," Zomba Label Group president/CEO Barry
Weiss tells Billboard. Kelly also co-directed and stars in a 16-minute film for
"Trapped." BET will air the complete film during the album's release
week. It will also be available as part of a bonus DVD that will be packaged
with the CD.
Latoya London To Drop Debut CD In Sept.
Excerpt from www.eurweb.com
(June 14, 2005) *LaToya London, an
“American Idol” finalist in 2004, will release her debut album “Love &
Life” on September 20 via Concord/Peak Records. The 14-song set covers a mixture of musical styles,
including pop, R&B and hip-hop. “Appreciate,” the album’s first
single, is an ode to the opposite sex that features input from Black Thought of
The Roots. London, whom
many thought should’ve replaced Diana DeGarmo as Fantasia's final “American
Idol” competitor, co-wrote several songs on the CD, including the first single
due in August. Other songs on the LP
include "Every Part of Me," "State of My Heart" and
"Meet Me Halfway." Producers and writers on the project include
Narada Michael Walden (Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey), Barry J. Eastmond
(Aretha Franklin and Anita Baker) and David Foster (Barbra Streisand and Quincy
Jones).
::CD RELEASES::
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
Aaron
Neville, Tell It Like It Is
[Aim], Aim
Backstreet
Boys, Never Gone, Jive
Booker
T & The MG's, Best of
Booker T. & the MG's [Collectables], Collectables
Eric
B. & Rakim, Gold, Hip-O
Fat
Joe, All or Nothing, Atlantic
Ike
& Tina Turner, Original
Gold, Disky
J.J.
Jackson, But It's Alright, Collectables
Janis
Joplin, Pearl [2 Disc
Special Edition], Sony
Lil'
Flip, Keep It Gangsta:
Freestyle Kings, Vol. 6,
BCD
Music Group
Pras, Win Lose or Draw
[Clean], Universal
Pras, Win Lose or Draw, Universal
Ronnie
I's Cliftonaires, Doo Wop
Souvenirs, Collectables
Various
Artists, Island Def Jam
Recordings Presents #1 Spot [Clean],
Def
Jam
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
Angie
Stone, Greatest Hits Live
[CD & DVD], J-Records
Baby, Fast Money, Universal
Boyz
N da Hood, Boyz N da Hood, Bad Boy
C-Murder, Truest **** I Ever
Said [Chopped and Screwed],
Koch
Culture
Club, Greatest Hits, Virgin
Eric
Benet, Hurricane, Warner Brothers
Keyshia
Cole, Way It Is, A&M
Leela
James, Change Is Gonna
Come, Warner Brothers
Master
P, Ghetto Bill Gates, Koch
Me'Shell
Ndeg�Ocello, Dance of
the Infidels, Shanachie
Method
Man Presents Street Life,
Street
Education, Cleopatra
Mike
Jones, Who Is Mike Jones?
[Clean], Warner Brothers
Mike
Mosley, Platinum Plaques,
Vol. 2, Wall Street
Ol'
Dirty Bastard, Definitive Ol'
Dirty Bastard Story [CD & DVD],
Rhino
Patti
LaBelle, Classic Moments, Def Jam
The
Baby Jaymes Record, Ghetto
Retro, DRT Entertainment
The
Lost Boyz, Forever, Contango
The
Memphis Horns, Memphis Horns [DBK
Works], DBK Works
The
Ovations, Goldwax Recordings, Kent
Various
Artists, Late Night Soul, Compendia
Wade O. Brown, All Night All Love, 33rd Street
::FILM NEWS::
Back With A Vengeance
Excerpt from The Globe and Mail - By Rob
Shaw
(June
11, 2005) When David S. Goyer sat
down to write the screenplay that would restart the ailing Batman movie franchise, he had a simple goal
-- create a film that would please the notoriously fickle Batman fans. It was a
novel idea, given the critical scorn and fan disgust that had buried the
franchise and left the Dark Knight for dead in 1997. That was the last time the
world saw Batman on the big screen; the camp comedy misadventure Batman
& Robin left a bad taste in the mouths of all concerned. Director Joel
Schumacher's vision of a rubber-nippled batsuit, George Clooney's codpiece and
a seemingly endless supply of cheesy one-liners dropped the bottom out of its
box-office gross. Batman & Robin earned approximately $238-million
(U.S.) worldwide, just under half the $411-million grossed by the original Batman
in 1989. Batman Returns pulled in $267-million during its run in
1992 and the number was low enough for Warner Bros. to turf director Tim Burton
and original Dark Knight, Michael Keaton. Schumacher was given the reins and in
1995 released Batman Forever, which grossed $336-million. The box-office
performance led to carte-blanche approval for Batman & Robin, where
low-earnings and fan disappointment proved the end of the line for Schumacher.
The franchise sat stagnant for eight years, until Wednesday when Warner Bros.
unveils its blockbuster relaunch film Batman Begins.
"There
was an enormous amount of pressure," said Goyer, of charting a new course
for a character that has generated more than $1.1-billion in worldwide ticket
sales. "There was another kind of pressure -- equally formidable -- and
that was from the fans, from the people that wanted a definitive Batman
film." Batman Begins is the film Goyer believes will bring the fans
back. The movie is a complete restart to the franchise and ignores the lineage
of the previous four films. The $180-million picture, shot in Iceland, London
and Chicago. It follows a young Bruce
Wayne after his parents' death. He travels the world to gather the skills and
equipment he will later use as Batman. The film climaxes when he returns home
to Gotham City, dons the cape and cowl, and battles a mad-scientist known as
The Scarecrow. Goyer's screenplay was brought to life by co-writer and director
Christopher Nolan -- best known for his critically acclaimed but smaller
art-house films Memento and Insomnia. Batman Begins marks Nolan's
first genuine big-budget blockbuster but he is joined by a seasoned all-star
cast that includes Christian Bale as Batman and Michael Caine as his butler,
Alfred. Katie Holmes, Morgan Freeman, Liam Neeson and Gary Oldman appear in
supporting roles. "From a commercial standpoint, the Batman films were
reaching a point of diminishing returns," said Goyer, who had previously
written the Blade movies. "The benefits of a relaunch are obvious,
we can literally start from scratch. We can take an audience by the hand and
reintroduce them to Batman without them having had any back story or previous
knowledge. "The other beautiful thing about this Batman story in particular
is that no one has ever told the definitive Batman origin story, certainly not
in film or television. If our movie works, then we can gradually reintroduce
the other characters -- the Joker, the Riddler et cetera -- but hopefully with
a new kind of gravitas attached to them."
Reintroducing
Batman's infamous villains, many of which had been killed off by a rubber-clad
Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer or George Clooney, was just one of the perks of
restarting the franchise. "I think it was necessary to do a new creative
expression of the character for film," said Paul Levitz, president and
publisher of DC Comics, the company where artist Bob Kane created Batman in
1939. "I don't think the world was sitting there saying 'We loved exactly
what we saw last time we had a Batman film, give us another one just like it.'
Goyer and Nolan could also veer away from the cartoon violence of the past two
films and ground Batman Begins in a world where his weapons and methods
were practical. "In terms of realism that was our mantra when we were
writing this film," said Goyer. "It doesn't particularly feel like a
comic-book film, which is something we were striving for." But just
because Batman's back, doesn't mean he's a guaranteed success. While he was
once the leading alpha male of the superheroes, he returns from hiatus to a
movie industry dominated by rival Marvel Comics characters Spider-Man and the
X-Men. Still, Batman has what Levitz calls a "protean" quality. Over
66 years, few characters in any genre have been played to such extremes. In the
1960s, Batman was a squeaky-clean Adam West who doled out equal parts
fisticuffs and puns in the live-action television series. In 1986, writer Frank
Miller (the recent author and co-director of Sin City) used the graphic
novel Batman: Year One and later The Dark Knight Returns to transform the Caped
Crusader into a psychotic and cruel superhero, driven past sanity through rage
and anger at his parents' death. Goyer
used Miller's work, among other films such as Lawrence of Arabia and the
James Bond feature On Her Majesty's Secret Service, as inspiration for Batman
Begins. "This is definitely the darkest depiction of Batman yet seen
on film," he said. "You have to believe that he would be capable of
crossing the line, of committing murder. If you don't do that, then there is no
real tension as the film unfolds."
"Batman
is a vigilante. He is someone that operates outside the law. Bruce Wayne
believes that the law doesn't work. . . . His intention is to use force. To use
terror. In a way, Batman is a terrorist. It's an interesting angle to approach.
"A normal person doesn't contemplate murder. A normal person does not
spend seven years of his life training with thieves and killers, pushing
himself to horrible extremes. A normal person does not dress up as a giant bat
and attempt to scare the living shit out of the criminal element. Chris [Nolan]
and I were interested in exploring themes of fear and terror -- the way that
those elements could be manipulated and exploited." Along with making the
movie, Warner Bros. also had to make amends with the fans. In interviews after
the Batman & Robin fiasco, Schumacher blamed an "unpoliced
Internet" and "small cult" of diehards for turning public
opinion against his movie. A rift formed between the fans and the filmmakers.
"Schumacher tried to blame the unpoliced Internet sites for ruining Batman
& Robin, but the film ruined itself," said Bill Ramey, owner of
Batman on Film, the longest-running Batman fan site on the Web. "Around
the time of Batman & Robin, websites weren't looked at particularly
fondly by the studio. But I think they realized that it could be to their
advantage if maybe what the fans wanted could work." In an effort to
rebuild bridges, Warner Bros. struck up a friendly relationship with Ramey, a
39-year-old high-school football coach and married father of three from
Houston. His was the only fan site invited to visit the set in London last fall
(Ramey sent his own U.K.-based correspondent). The studio also allowed him to
premiere a movie poster on-line, trolled his message boards for feedback, and
invited Ramey to meet the film's stars and see the movie at a press junket in
early June. His website, Batman on Film, is up to 50,000 daily visitors because
it became what Ramey called an "on-line lobby group" that had the ear
of Warner Bros. Even Goyer visited the site. "I think that through me,
it's [the studio's] way of speaking to the fans," said Ramey. Ramey's
initial review called Batman Begins "fantastic" and "the
definitive Batman film" -- words sure to please the studio. But they will
also ease the mind of Goyer, who appears closer than ever to achieving his
simple goal for Batman Begins: "Frankly, I wanted to be able to go
to my local comic-book store and be able to look my fellow comic-book buyers in
the eye, and feel good about what we've done."
Short Films Have To Make Their Point
Quickly
Excerpt
from The Globe and Mail - By Guy Dixon
(June
14, 2005) By the end of the 28-minute documentary short 9 Months, 6 Blocks,
the details of Peter's life are sketchy, yet we're intimately familiar with
him. A retired postal clerk, he lives in Parkdale, a Toronto west-end
neighbourhood, and mixes bygone manners ("Oh by the way, would you
gentlemen like anything at all?" he innocently asks the film crew on
camera), with bouts of sudden swearing ("Oh, what the. . . . I think I'll
have a piece of pie, too"). His days are exceedingly ordinary, listening
to old LPs in his cramped apartment or getting excited about a roast-beef
sandwich at a local diner. But he's easily one of the most compelling
characters among the films in this year's Worldwide
Short Film Festival in Toronto, which runs until Sunday. 9
Months, 6 Blocks demonstrates how varied and experimental documentary
shorts continue to be, at a time when documentaries in general are going
through an unprecedented period of creativity. Last year's highly acclaimed
Canadian documentary shorts Ryan, about the life of master animator Ryan
Larkin, and Hardwood, about a former Harlem Globetrotter and his two
families, both broke new ground in the way they told their stories. Ryan
used computer-animated decomposing body parts as a metaphor, while Hardwood made
creative use of basketball as a motif in the movie. 9 Months, 6 Blocks doesn't
have much of a story line. It is basically a set of character sketches. It
isn't even really about the neighbourhood of Parkdale, since the characters'
lives are so utterly unrelated to each other. But in the end, the viewer has a
deep sense of these people. All of the Canadian documentary shorts in the
festival leave a similar impression. Because of the short format and truncated
story lines, the films have to drill down to core emotions and central truths
about their subjects -- they don't have the luxury of spending time objectively
analyzing them. It's a fascinating trend in documentary-making.
"In
short documentaries, you can be a little bit more experimental, you can play
around with form more," said Chris Romeike, a Toronto-based documentary
cinematographer and first-time director of 9 Months, 6 Blocks. Another
film, My Own Revolution, similarly has to narrow its focus due to time.
It follows a Canadian woman travelling to the Ukraine as an official election
observer. The film moves along so quickly it's difficult to pinpoint where her
sympathies for the opposition movement end and where her role as an impartial
observer begins. Truth be told, it seems the observer herself isn't entirely
clear about the separation of the two in her own heart. The 22-minute version
of the film showing in the festival was originally a 15-minute segment produced
by independent Toronto filmmaker Craig Goodwill for the program CBC Sunday.
He also has an hour-long version he is hoping to sell to broadcasters or
distributors at the festival. "The hard part about doing such a small
piece is that you don't have the time to explain the context of it, and some
things are just [shown] at face value. . . . Short documentaries really break
it down to their emotional essence," Goodwill said. Some films at the
festival test the bounds of documentaries. Chambre de Torture, 1944, a
two-minute animated film by Toronto-based filmmaker Madi Piller, is listed in
the festival program as an experimental short, and it begins with abstract
animation. But it ends with the description of a painting Piller's father made
40 years after the Second World War of an empty torture chamber in France. The
inscription on the back is something he remembered seeing on a prison wall:
"From this day on and forever, I make a vow never to lock a bird in a
cage." Despite the abstract imagery, the film functions as a documentary.
It couldn't have recorded its emotional essence any other way, the director
argues. "Others have also asked me if I had considered making it longer. I
think the film is long enough to transmit the message," she said. Yet
possibly the most unusual Canadian documentary short in the festival is Can
You Love Me?, directed by Ryerson students Adam Garnet Jones and Sarah
Kolasky. It tells the story of how Toronto art student Morgan Mavis put up
posters around the city advertising herself and giving out her phone number.
She attracted one particularly strange, disturbed loner who left an endless
stream of obsessive messages, sometimes threatening.
But
what's startling is how Mavis unapologetically talks about toying with this
admirer and how much she craves attention. Given that the documentary is only
nine minutes, the film stuns viewers by not giving much of Mavis's back story,
but by simply letting her say such startling things. "One of our
objectives is to leave the audience wanting more, wanting to know more about
her," Kolasky said. But sometimes, as with Can You Love Me?, what
we are given in short form is perfect. What we want is more of this kind of
experimentation. For more information on the Worldwide Short Film Festival,
see http://www.worldwideshortfilmfest.com or call
416-445-1446, ext. 815.
Mel Knows 'I Hate Violence'
Excerpt from The Globe and Mail - By Gayle
Macdonald
(June
13, 2005) Hollywood director Richard Donner
is serenely sipping away on something called a Chocolate Monkey while watching
a New York City bus careen wildly through the streets, finally crashing
spectacularly in a deserted alley. On the set of his new $55-million (U.S.)
movie 16 Blocks, Donner is
clearly an old pro at filming hard-core action scenes, having commandeered Mel
Gibson through countless close scrapes in the four Lethal Weapon films,
as well as directing the late Christopher Reeve as the buff superhero in Superman
I and II. But he bills this shot-in-Toronto, set-in-New-York feature
film as predominantly -- and more importantly -- a character-driven action
flick. Thus, he's adamant he's far more consumed with the quality of the
performances he inspires from the actors (including Bruce Willis, Mos Def and
David Morse) than the whiz-bang special effects. "I don't care about
crashes," says the 75-year-old director, who has the energy and zip of
someone in his 20s. "We've all done crashes. Put a camera here. Put a
camera there, and you've got a great crash. In this particular case there's
such a wealth of performances from these people. . . . that at the end of the
day, it's like, 'What the hell am I going to put in the movie?' It's all so
rich. That is way more important to me."
The
crash scene is integral, though, because it is the climax of what turns out to
be a tortuous 16-block trip during which alcoholic homicide detective Jack
Mosley (Willis) is supposed to escort petty criminal and key witness Eddie
Bunker (Def) from the fifth precinct to 100 Centre St. to testify before a
grand jury. It turns out someone doesn't want Bunker to get there -- and so
begins a film about survival, self-enlightenment and friendship. (The burning
bus and the SWAT teams are just testosterone-laced window dressing.) "I
liked the idea of someone who's broken and dead inside who can be fixed and
brought back to life," says Donner. It's taken Donner and his Toronto crew
13 days to set up and execute the bus-goes-down scene. Twelve cameras were
on-hand to capture the steel-twisting carnage, shot in a sweltering 30 degrees
Celsius. Through the heat, smoke and noise, Donner is genial and unfazed,
cracking jokes with the crew and sipping that Chocolate Monkey (a blended
concoction of powdered chocolate, bananas, milk and ice). He explains that this
film appealed to him -- like the many that came before -- because it's a
compelling tale (written by Richard Wenk) that gets you in its grip. Over the
course of his 50-year career, Donner has made everything from dramas and
comedies to feel-good family films and thrillers. Some titles include his breakout
film The Omen (who can forget the demon spawn Damien?), the kiddie cult
hit The Goonies, and perhaps the best feature ever made about child
abuse, 1992's Radio Flyer.
Dressed
in jeans with his rumpled shirt hanging untucked, Donner explains he started in
this business as a bad actor, one who was unceremoniously dumped from a bit
role in Martin Ritt's TV production of W. Somerset Maugham's Of Human
Bondage. "We had a stupid
argument," Donner remembers. "I should have had my mouth shut and it
was open, which happens a lot. Martin told me I'd never make it as an actor
because I couldn't take direction. He thought I could give it, so he offered me
a job as his assistant." Ritt made such classics as Norma Rae, The
Spy Who Came in from the Cold and Hud. After moving to Los Angeles
from his native New York in the late fifties, Donner found some opportunities
to direct TV shows, starting with Wanted: Dead or Alive (featuring his
pal Steve McQueen), and then moving on to series such as The Twilight Zone
and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. His first major feature was The Omen,
which revolutionized the thriller/suspense genre. Then came Superman, a
huge international hit, and the Lethal Weapon quartet, starring Mel
Gibson and Danny Glover, films that have grossed close to $1-billion at the box
office. Often asked which projects rank among his favourites, he always offers
the same reply: "Do you have any kids? Which one are you most proud
of?" Having said that, Donner admits he has a soft spot for Ladyhawke,
the medieval adventure tale starring Matthew Broderick and Michelle Pfeiffer.
"My
wife hired me to direct it. I met her and fell in love. It was a wonderful
little film about unrequited love. It has a lot of personal life for me."
Donner is married to Lauren Shuler Donner, producer of such films as You've
Got Mail and Any Given Sunday. She's currently in Vancouver
overseeing X-Men 3. "Superman I loved because it set a
precedent," he continues. "It started something rolling, however,
that today has gotten out of hand -- nowadays if you write a comic book it's on
the screen tomorrow. "And I love my Lethal Weapons. I love
everything I've done with Mel Gibson." Friends for more than 20 years,
Donner says his pal has gotten a bad rap over the controversial The Passion
of the Christ, a film about the final hours and crucifixion of Jesus.
"He is just a great, crazy, nutty son-of-a-bitch that I love dearly. He's
the guy you want to hang with. He's the kind of buddy you want to have,"
Donner says of Gibson. "I've known the man for two decades -- and I've
known him through all sorts of his own demons in life that I experienced with
him. And I've never heard him say anything bad about anybody. That's Mel. He's
pure. Whatever he did with that film, it was something he had to do. If there
were demons he had, he got them out. But no way in his mind was he
anti-Semitic."
Donner
has not seen The Passion, because Gibson told him not to. "He said
it's so violent, and he knows I hate violence. If you've seen my movies,
violence is always totally contained or it's comic-book violence. I can't do it
if it's stark reality and document. So Mel said, 'Don't go. You'll hate me.'
" Donner wraps shooting 16 Blocks in Toronto on June 24, and then
will move onto a two-week stint in New York. "The visit to New York is so
we can tie it all together. We have to go there to get the smell. Everybody's
going to be eating a Sabrett hot dog on the street, with mustard, sauerkraut
and hot peppers -- or they don't stick around with me," he jokes. From there,
he plans to join his wife of 18 years at their beach home in Maui (they also
have residences in the San Juan Islands near Vancouver, and Los Angeles.) While
he's eager to get home, he adds that the Toronto crew has been the best he's
ever worked with. "I've made a lot of pictures in a lot of places, and
I've never had a crew like this in my life. If I could take this crew anywhere
in the world, if I had my choice of crew, I'd take this crew. They're
extraordinary." No wonder the guy gets homemade Chocolate Monkeys.
New Influence For Telefilm
Excerpt from The Toronto Star - Murray Whyte, Entertainment
Reporter
(Jun. 15, 2005) Telefilm
Canada, the country's biggest
funding source for film and television production, announced yesterday a new
deal with CBC to produce feature-length documentary films. It served as a footnote to an
already busy week for the agency, which has seen its reach and influence expand
dramatically since the start of the Banff Television Festival on Friday. On
Monday, Heritage Minister Liza
Frulla announced that Telefilm
would take over the administration of the Canadian Television Fund, an agency
with which it shared a complex relationship that perplexed television producers
for more than a decade. The plan
suddenly added about $175 million — $100 million of it drawn from private
companies in the television industry — to Telefilm's already large portfolio.
The move puts about $425 million in cultural funding in-house there, dwarfing
all other funding agencies. However,
the consolidation may not be permanent. Frulla said Telefilm's control of the
fund was on a contractual basis only. "They'll have to perform or they'll
lose it," she said in an interview yesterday. The CBC announcement is meagre by comparison — a $1.5 million
commitment by Telefilm for the 2005-06 season — but it's part of a larger
movement expanding the role of the agency, and its executive director, Wayne
Clarkson, in how — and what — film and television is made in the country. The Canadian Television Fund consolidation
amounts to a kind of one-stop shopping for television and film producers
looking for federal cash for projects.
It also came as a relief to several producers on hand in Banff for the
announcement. "It simplifies
things tremendously, having one set of analysis for our applications,"
said Stephen Stohn, the executive producer of such shows as DeGrassi: The
Next Generation and Instant Star.
Over the years, Stohn, like many television producers, had wearied of the
two-pronged process of applying for funding, when Telefilm and the fund
functioned as two separate boards handing out money. Often, producers would
need approval from both for a show to go ahead. "Sometimes, you'd get
approval from one and not the other. It left you wondering what was going
on," he said. Frulla, who also
announced a $100 million commitment to television funding through 2006-07,
agreed. "Before, it was a
headache. I wanted to avoid the insecurity the milieu has had to live with each
time. Now we want to work in the next budget so the industry can plan
ahead." Michelle Marion, director
of original programming at The Movie Network, also welcomed the news, with some
reservations. "It makes the point of access easier and clearer," she
said. "But the fact is that the fund is still dramatically
oversubscribed." The same day as Frulla's announcement, the Coalition of
Canadian Audio-Visual Unions released a report saying that spending on
television drama last year hit its lowest point since 1998.
New Influence For Telefilm
Excerpt from The Toronto Star - Murray Whyte, Entertainment
Reporter
(Jun. 15, 2005) Telefilm
Canada, the country's biggest
funding source for film and television production, announced yesterday a new
deal with CBC to produce feature-length documentary films. It served as a footnote to an
already busy week for the agency, which has seen its reach and influence expand
dramatically since the start of the Banff Television Festival on Friday. On
Monday, Heritage Minister Liza
Frulla announced that Telefilm
would take over the administration of the Canadian Television Fund, an agency
with which it shared a complex relationship that perplexed television producers
for more than a decade. The plan
suddenly added about $175 million — $100 million of it drawn from private
companies in the television industry — to Telefilm's already large portfolio.
The move puts about $425 million in cultural funding in-house there, dwarfing
all other funding agencies. However,
the consolidation may not be permanent. Frulla said Telefilm's control of the
fund was on a contractual basis only. "They'll have to perform or they'll
lose it," she said in an interview yesterday. The CBC announcement is meagre by comparison — a $1.5 million
commitment by Telefilm for the 2005-06 season — but it's part of a larger
movement expanding the role of the agency, and its executive director, Wayne
Clarkson, in how — and what — film and television is made in the country. The Canadian Television Fund consolidation
amounts to a kind of one-stop shopping for television and film producers
looking for federal cash for projects.
It also came as a relief to several producers on hand in Banff for the
announcement. "It simplifies
things tremendously, having one set of analysis for our applications,"
said Stephen Stohn, the executive producer of such shows as DeGrassi: The
Next Generation and Instant Star.
Over the years, Stohn, like many television producers, had wearied of
the two-pronged process of applying for funding, when Telefilm and the fund
functioned as two separate boards handing out money. Often, producers would
need approval from both for a show to go ahead. "Sometimes, you'd get
approval from one and not the other. It left you wondering what was going
on," he said. Frulla, who also
announced a $100 million commitment to television funding through 2006-07,
agreed. "Before, it was a
headache. I wanted to avoid the insecurity the milieu has had to live with each
time. Now we want to work in the next budget so the industry can plan
ahead." Michelle Marion, director
of original programming at The Movie Network, also welcomed the news, with some
reservations. "It makes the point of access easier and clearer," she
said. "But the fact is that the fund is still dramatically
oversubscribed." The same day as Frulla's announcement, the Coalition of
Canadian Audio-Visual Unions released a report saying that spending on
television drama last year hit its lowest point since 1998.
Movie Boss Has Best Seat In The House
Excerpt from The Globe and Mail - By
Gayle Macdonald
(June 15, 2005) For close to 20 years, Ellis Jacob has worked alongside some of the
country's biggest entertainment names -- and egos. And during that time, the
movie theatre veteran has never got -- nor actively sought -- media attention
or industry acclaim. But earlier this week, the low-key, 51-year-old emerged as
a player of note when news broke that his exhibition chain Cineplex Galaxy LP (controlled by
leveraged-buyout king Gerry Schwartz) was taking over rival Famous Players in a blockbuster $500-million
deal. Now Jacob -- the invisible man who had toiled alongside Garth Drabinsky
at a going-under Cineplex Odeon, Allen Karp (when Cineplex was going back up),
Robert Lantos (when his Alliance Communications merged with similarly-named
Atlantis Communications) -- is the main-man-in-charge of Canada's biggest movie
exhibition circuit, with 1,300 screens at 132 locations: A company that will
control 63 per cent of the national box office and basically dictate how and
what we experience at the movies. Smart enough to know it would be ridiculous
to imply he's not tickled pink to be finally sitting in the big chair. Jacob is
also quick to play down the significance of his new job in the grand scheme of
things. "To me, whatever I was running -- if it was one theatre or this
whole company -- doesn't change me," he says in an interview yesterday.
"The people I have the most to thank are the ones who stood by me when I
was running Galaxy as a small chain." Jacob is referring to Galaxy
Entertainment, a teeny movie-house chain that, ironically, he launched in June,
2000 -- five years, almost to the day, before the Famous Players/Cineplex
Galaxy merger. "I think this deal is great for the country," he
insists.
"It's the first time in ages you have
a Canadian-owned company running the theatres in the country. It's a cultural
coup." To get the blessing of the federal Competition Bureau, Jacob had to
agree to shed 35 theatres in 17 cities. When Galaxy emerged on the scene in the
spring of the millennium year, it was a bit player with big dreams.
Specifically it planned to go into mid-sized markets, like Ontario's Sault Ste.
Marie, Cornwall and Brantford, and give folks something they hadn't enjoyed in
years, a spiffy theatre with cushy seating, big screens and the latest sound.
Some industry types predicted Jacob would flounder. But with backing from
Schwartz's Onex Corp. and undisclosed investments from movie-maker Lantos, film
distributor Victor Loewy, Famous Players and Alliance Atlantis, he made a go of
it, making a profit each year, and eventually building 19 theatres with 154
screens in six provinces. The skeptics shut up. Slowly, but surely, Jacob set
about turning the movie exhibition world in Canada on its ear.
In 2002, Onex got control of the North
American-wide Loews Cineplex Entertainment Corp. chain while it was under
bankruptcy protection. Later, the U.S. theatres were sold at a huge profit,
Galaxy and Cineplex's Canadian operations were merged, and a chunk of the
venture was sold to investors as an income trust. Jacob -- a guy whom Schwartz
describes as "a first-class operator -- relentless in cost control while
at the same time, builds an outstanding management team" -- was placed in
charge. Then eight months ago, Jacob went back to Schwartz and convinced him to
give him the green light to start wooing Viacom to buy Famous Players, rumoured
to be looking for a buyer. Earlier this week, Schwartz and his wife Heather
Reisman (owner of Chapters/Indigo) made headlines as the power couple behind
this movie chain deal. The truth is Schwartz et al. had virtually nothing to do
with it (oh, except the part about financial backing). As Jacob puts it, "Gerry's hands-off
totally. He never gets involved in the day-to-day stuff." Combined, the
two circuits will have over 60 million customers on an annual basis. In the
cliquey Canadian entertainment world, Jacob is pretty much universally regarded
as, well, a decent guy. Tough, but fair. Bob Findlay, head of Canadian
corporate banking at Scotia Capital, says "there are no hidden agendas
with Ellis. He is a tough negotiator but never loses sight of the purpose of
the negotiation -- the conclusion of a deal that both parties can accept. This
skill means people want to do business with him again and again." On the
phone, Jacob apologizes for having to sign off. Famous Player's president Robb
Chase is coming to his office, and they've got a three-hour meeting to try to
sort out what is still a murky future. There will be layoffs.
"It's always been my view, take the
best people from both companies -- that's going to determine who stays and who
goes," says Jacob, who immigrated to Canada from Calcutta in 1969 with $10
in his pocket at age 15. He stayed with his sister, eventually becoming a
chartered accountant and earning his MBA from York. There will be more theatres
built -- six already slated in markets such as Saskatchewan, Montreal's South Shore,
outside Ottawa, and in Aurora, Milton and Brockville, in Southern Ontario.
"My biggest fears are twofold. First, piracy. And second, the flow of
product, ie. the quality of films that are coming into the theatres. I always
say I just set the table, I don't serve the steak. That's really the true
nature of our business. At the end of the day, I still rely heavily on what
Hollywood delivers." Talk about a career that's come full circle. Today
he's sitting in the same office space where he started taking orders from
Drabinsky. It's taken 18 years, but Jacob is finally emcee of his own show.
Alliance Eyes Spinoffs From Cineplex Deal
Excerpt from The Globe and Mail - By
Richard Blackwell
(June 15, 2005) The movie distribution arm
of Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc.
may be interested in picking up the 35 movie theatres that must be sold by Cineplex Galaxy LP after it completes its
buyout of rival Famous Players Inc. Paul Laberge, executive vice-president of
Movie Distribution Income Fund, 51-per-cent owned by Alliance Atlantis, said in
an interview that his firm will look at the list of theatres and consider a
bid. "We'll have to wait and see what the list includes," he said,
"but certainly we're always looking at acquisitions that would be
accretive to us in complementary businesses, so this would fit that pattern,
potentially." He said he would not expect there to be "a lot of crown
jewels" among the properties Cineplex is willing to sell, but that won't
be clear until his firm can see the list. Alliance Atlantis already has a stake
in five theatres -- three in Toronto and one each in Vancouver and Victoria.
The group carries the Alliance Atlantis name, although they are run by the
company's joint venture partner, Famous Players. Now that Cineplex is taking
over Famous Players, the status of that joint venture is up in the air.
"We have to sort through how the new ownership arrangement would impact
that," Mr. Laberge said. The main business of Movie Distribution Income
Fund is to distribute films to theatres, so the Cineplex-Famous Players deal is
a "a little bit of concern" to the company because it decreases the
number of buyers, Mr. Laberge said. "More
operators is better from our perspective."
Under a consent agreement Cineplex signed
with the federal Competition Bureau, it must sell the 35 theatres to no more
than three buyers, to ensure there is strong regional competition. If the company can't sell them, a trustee
will be appointed to find a buyer. The details of this arrangement -- including
how much time Cineplex has to complete a deal before a trustee steps in -- have
been kept confidential. The specific locations of the 35 theatres that have to
be sold off also are confidential, although the names of the 17 cities where
they are located were revealed when the deal was announced Monday. They include
big cities such as Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and Calgary, and smaller
centres such as Saskatoon, St. Catharines, Kingston and Lethbridge. Analysts
say there are a number of potential buyers in addition to Alliance
Atlantis. Analyst Ben Mogil of Westwind
Partners Inc. said one of the most likely bidders is the No. 3 player in the
Canadian market, Kansas City, Mo.-based AMC Entertainment Inc., which
has a handful of large theatres in Ontario and Quebec. AMC now has a 6-per-cent
share of the market, Mr. Mogil said, and the addition of 35 theatres would
boost that to about 20 per cent. Other
possible bidders -- for some or all of the theatres -- include regional players
like Empire Theatres Ltd., the leading chain in Atlantic Canada, Western
Canadian operator Landmark Cinemas of Canada Inc., or Montreal's Cinema
Guzzo. "It could be
anyone," said BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc. analyst Jeff Tkachuk, including
private equity players and pension funds that lost out to Cineplex in the
bidding for Famous Players. For a
company or investment group interested in getting into the movie business,
"a 35-theatre chain is sizable enough to get a strong foothold in the
industry," said Howard Lichtman, president of Toronto marketing consulting
group Lightning Group.
Murphy in ‘Dreamgirls’
Excerpt from www.eurweb.com
(June 14, 2005) *It’s
official. Eddie Murphy has been cast opposite Beyonce Knowles and Jamie Foxx in
DreamWorks’ film adaptation of the Broadway musical “Dreamgirls.”
Bill Condon directs the story of singing trio The Dreamettes (Effie, Deena and
Lorrell). Murphy will play superstar performer James "Thunder"
Early, for whom the Dreamettes sing back up, before they take over the
spotlight themselves as The Dreams.
::TV NEWS::
Like
Friends . . . But In A Hostel
Excerpt from The Globe and Mail - By
Unnati Gandhi
(June
13, 2005) Yes, they all live at home with their parents. But that doesn't mean
they can't come up with a television show about the lives of people checking in
and out of a fictional downtown Toronto youth hostel. Because you know what?
They already did. Six friends from Toronto are at this week's Banff Television Festival to pitch a pilot
episode of their situation comedy The Hostel.
Their trip to the Canadian Rockies, where they've arranged to stay at a youth
hostel, will actually be the first the twentysomethings take together.
"For all we know, we might hate each other by the end of [this trip]. This
might be the end of our great plan," joked Alex
Herman, 23, out on the patio of Toronto's largest youth hostel,
Global Village Backpackers. Herman, along with Alex Molenaar, Kegan Winters, Adam Peterson, Paul Matthews and Dave Baker,
brainstormed their "great plan" earlier this year during weekly
meetings they would hold to foster creative conversation. "Even when you're drunk,"
24-year-old Winters said, "the level of conversation is just intense.
"That's what I miss about university -- the intellectual conversations. I
don't want to call it a support group, but. . . ." At the Banff Television
Festival, which began yesterday and runs through Wednesday, the fresh batch of
university grads -- with alma maters ranging from Princeton to McGill to Oxford
-- will present their three-minute pitch to a panel of broadcasters,
distributors and industry executives, selling the idea of the
"quarter-life crisis."
Theirs
is one of 14 pitches that were chosen for the Festival's New Players category.
There were well over 120 submissions. "The concept of a quarter-life
crisis is becoming very popular among twentysomethings," said Molenaar,
23. "People are so overwhelmed
with choices that they create this extended adolescence, stuck in a transient
environment. Everyone travels after university." This is where their
motto, "Now that we can do anything, what do we do now?" fits in.
Their six-part miniseries, so far titled The Hostel, revolves around
four central characters -- a farm boy from Lethbridge, Alta., known
affectionately to others as L.A.; a wannabe pop singer from Montreal who hates
Toronto; an entrepreneur with pathetic ideas from upstate New York; and a lovestruck
metrosexual who is in the unfortunate situation of having a dad that's cooler
than he is. Why hostels? And why
Canada? "We made it about something we all know about," Herman said.
"With Canada being so welcoming to international students, it's the perfect
setting for a show like this." He described the sitcom's style as
somewhere between Arrested Development and The Office. Matt
Wyatt, marketing director of Global Village Backpackers, thinks the idea of
making a television show about a hostel is long overdue. "So many
interesting things go down here," he said. "It's a setting most young people are familiar with and can
relate to. Hostels have changed a lot from our parents' time."
TV Funding Agencies To Work In Sync
Excerpt
from The Globe and Mail - By Gayle Macdonald
(June
14, 2005) Independent producers cheered yesterday a federal promise to do away
with much of the paperwork and red tape that's long needled at folks trying to
stickhandle their way through the TV funding application process. In a speech
to a crowd gathered at the Banff World Television Festival, Heritage Minister Liza Frulla announced plans
to strip away the overlap that currently exists between the country's two main
funding bodies, the Canadian Television Fund and Telefilm Canada. In previous
years, both the CTF and Telefilm had independent boards of directors as well as
administration departments to dole out funds. Now Frulla said the CTF will
function as the board and Telefilm as chief administrator. Wayne Clarkson, who
became executive director of Telefilm in January, welcomed the one-stop
shopping for independent makers of TV. "There's been a duplication of
resources and differences in terms of policies and priorities because the CTF
is a not-for-profit, public-private partnership, and Telefilm is a crown agency
of the government," said Clarkson, in Banff, Alta., for the four-day
event. "Two boards and two administrations meant more work for everybody,
not the least for independent producers. This will be a more cost-effective way
of doing business," he said.
The
minister also committed $100-million in new funding through the CTF's 2006-2007
fiscal year, signalling to TV producers that the annual budget will not shrink
-- as it has done in the past -- next year. Frulla told the audience she aims
to ensure long-term funding for the television production fund in the 2006
federal budget. She also announced plans to set aside a CTF funding envelope
specifically for the CBC, equalling 37 per cent of the total pie. Earlier in
the year, CBC's executive vice-president of English television, Richard
Stursberg, had asked the federal government to guarantee that 50 per cent of
the CTF be allocated, in a multiyear envelope, to independent Canadian
producers whose programs air exclusively during CBC's prime time. Christina
Jennings of Shaftesbury Films welcomed news of the streamlined approach.
"It's just easier. In the past, it was a lot of paperwork. And you'd hear
from the CTF about something, but have to wait to hear from Telefilm about
something else," she said. At Banff yesterday, the Coalition of Canadian
Audio-Visual Unions (CCAU) released a report that showed spending on Canadian
television drama has plummeted since 1999, with 2004 recording the lowest level
in seven years. "Drama spending by Canada's English-language private
broadcasters bottomed out at $53.6-million in 2004 from a high of $73-million
in 1998," stated the report, entitled The Need for a Regulatory Safety
Net.
Ottawa Injects $100m To Fund Canadian TV
Shows
Source: Canadian
Press
(June
12, 2005) Banff, Alta. — Canada's television industry is getting $100-million
in new money to create homegrown programming.
The money was announced Sunday by Heritage
Minister Liza Frulla to producers and executives at the Banff World
Television Festival. The money will go to the Canadian Television Fund, Ms.
Frulla said in a speech before the festival's opening reception. The Minister said her next move is to ensure
long-term funding for the fund in the 2006 federal budget. Ottawa has contributed $800-million to the
fund since it was formed in 1996. The private-public partnership, which
supports creation of programming in French, English and aboriginal languages,
has helped create $5.7-billion in Canadian programming. Ms. Frulla said the fund is essential to
ensure Canadians receive distinctive programming. “Since it's inception, the (fund) has helped bring more than
18,000 hours of original Canadian programming to the screen,” said Ms. Frulla.
Lopez Back On The Upswing
Excerpt from The Toronto Star - Sean
Daly, Special To The Star
(Jun. 11,
2005) HOLLYWOOD—It's nice to see that George
Lopez hasn't lost his sense of humour — even when it comes to the
emergency kidney transplant he received on April 23. "Are you kidding? The
catheter in itself is hilarious," he quips in between sips of hot tea.
"It's a trauma that I don't think my penis is over just yet." Not that Lopez, who turned 44 less than a
week after the operation, isn't deeply grateful to actress and screenwriter Ana
Serrano, his wife of 12 years, who donated the life-saving organ. "The single most important thing that
ever happened to me is the fact that she matched and never hesitated," he
admits. "It's like she said, we already did `for richer or poorer,' now we
are doing `in sickness and in health.'"
Things weren't always so easy for the loving Latinos (she's Cuban, he's
Mexican), who met at a comedy club in 1990. Not long after the birth of their
daughter Mayan, 9, Lopez was booted out of the house for excessive drinking and
what he now calls "self-destructive" behaviour. "In the middle of the night, I filled
up his car with all of his clothes, all his toiletries, a frying pan, toilet
paper ... It was like, `Buddy, you're not coming back.' And I changed the
locks," Serrano told Primetime Live. The still up-and-coming comic moved into an empty condominium.
"A month of laying on a mattress you filled up with a pump, with only a
TV-VCR combination thing on the floor and a few rented movies makes you really
take stock," he concedes. Lopez
(friends call him G-Lo) is all too familiar with broken homes. When he was just
two months old, his father abandoned the family. His mother moved to Sacramento
when she remarried and left her then 10-year-old son to be raised by his
maternal grandmother and step-grandfather.
But the biggest influence on his life, Lopez says, has been the game of
golf. "It taught me all of the things that an adult male should have
taught me. It taught me patience. It taught me honesty. I had a horrible temper
and you can't play golf that way. I don't think I can repay golf for what it
has done for me."
So
Lopez, a 13 handicap, decided to do the next best thing: he "adopted"
the golf team at his alma mater, San Fernando High. "I saw them at a golf
course and I was making fun of their clothes because they looked like
bumblebees, all black and yellow," he says, remembering with a laugh. "So
I talked to the coach and said `Whatever you need I'll take care of it.' When
they come back to school they are gonna be pimped out with Tommy Bahama
clothes, Titleist clubs, Scotty Cameron putters ..." Lopez will pay for it — at least in part —
with earnings from The Adventures of Shark Boy & Lava Girl in 3-D, a
movie fantasy about pre-teen superheroes.
The movie, in which Lopez plays four different roles, was directed by
Robert Rodriguez (Sin City, Spy Kids) and based on a story by his
7-year-old son. This fall, Rodriguez
will direct an episode of The George Lopez Show, which was recently
renewed for a fourth season. A
best-selling author — his autobiography Why You Crying was in the New
York Times Top 20 last year — Lopez paid his dues working factory jobs by
day and in comedy clubs by night before his breakthrough role in the 1990
comedy Ski Patrol. "Now
that I am healthy, I would love to reconnect with my stand-up," says the
multi-tasker, who recently worked as a full-time DJ at an L.A. radio station,
hosted the Latin Grammy Awards, recorded an award-winning CD (Team Leader)
and appeared on TV specials including The 50 Most Awesomely Bad Songs ...
Ever. (His pick: "Informer" by Canada's Snow.) "I have worked hard for the past 25
years," he says. "Nobody gave me anything. There are certainly people
out there who may not like what I do, but I earned the right to do it."
Wayans World: Bros. Looking To Build
Oakland Facility; Damon Goes ‘Underground.’
Excerpt from www.eurweb.com
(June 15, 2005) Keenan Ivory, Damon, Shawn
and Marlon Wayans are interested in turning an old Oakland
Army Base into a sprawling new facility that would include a movie studio,
entertainment-themed attractions, related retail shops and a hotel. According
to AP, the proposal to develop 70 acres was expected to go before a City
Council committee yesterday. There appears to be no other bidders for the site,
which has been largely vacant since the base shut down eight years ago. The
Wayans’ spokeswoman Kay Karney said the acting siblings have been looking for a
city to build an entertainment complex based on the layout of Southern
California’s Universal Studios. She said family members have visited
several times and were impressed with the diversity, access and weather in the
San Francisco Bay area. Meanwhile, Damon Wayans is busy making plans for life
after “My Wife and Kids,” his former ABC sitcom that was cancelled last month
after a five-year run. “‘American Idol’ (was) killing us,” Damon told AP of the
show’s demise. “So I'm starting a new project on my own. It's called 'The Underground.' It's a sketch comedy. I'm
going to do it on my own, with my own money. It's going to be reminiscent of
'In Living Color.' I'm going to be doing a bunch of different characters. It's
going to be super sexy. I have about 30 sketches we're ready to shoot. I got
Iraq's funniest home videos, dope sick cops, a gang of funny commercial
parodies. The streets will be talking about it for sure. I think we might go
straight to DVD. People want something they can't get on TV. I have 500
channels of nothing. DVDs give you the option to watch what you want when you
want.”
Matthew Perry To Host ESPY Awards
Excerpt from The Toronto Star
(Jun. 10,
2005) LOS ANGELES (AP) — Matthew Perry,
a former junior tennis player in his native Canada, is going back to the sports
world as host of the ESPY Awards. He takes over from comedian and
Oscar-winning actor Jamie Foxx, who hosted the previous two years. Perry was a nationally ranked junior singles
and doubles player in Canada. He has been a familiar face at matches played by
his friend Jennifer Capriati over the years.
The ESPYs will be taped at the Kodak Theatre on July 13. The awards show
will air four days later on ESPN.
Perry, 35, was a co-star on NBC's Friends. His screen credits include
The Whole Nine Yards and its sequel, The Whole Ten Yards.
::THEATRE NEWS::
Full List Of 2005 Dora Nominees
Excerpt from The Toronto Star
(Jun. 9,
2005) Here is the complete list of the 2005 Dora Mavor Moore awards
nominations.
GENERAL THEATRE DIVISION
Outstanding
New Play
Claudia
Dey, Trout Stanley; Keira Loughran, Little Dragon; Rick Miller
& Daniel Brooks, Bigger Than Jesus; John Mighton, Half Life;
David S. Young with the company, No Great Mischief
Outstanding
New Musical
David
Finley, Aladdin; Guy Mignault, Autour de Kurt Weill
Outstanding
Production of a Play
Bigger
Than Jesus,
Necessary Angel Theatre Company in Association with Factory Theatre; Blue
PlaneT, Lorraine Kimsa Theatre for Young People; Half Life, Tarragon
Theatre and Necessary Angel Theatre Company; Take Me Out, CanStage; The
Leisure Society, Factory Theatre
Outstanding
Production of a Musical
Aladdin, Ross
Petty Productions; Ain't Misbehavin', CanStage and Dancap Private Equity
Inc.; Autour de Kurt Weill, Le Théâtre français de Toronto; Hairspray,
David and Ed Mirvish / Margo Lion, Adam Epstein, The
Baruch-Viertel-Routh-Frankel Group, James D. Stern/Douglas L. Meyer, Rick
Steiner/Frederic H. Mayerson, SEL & GFO, New Line Cinema in association
with Clear Channel Entertainment, A. Gordon/E. McAllister, D. Harris/M.
Swinsky, JGB Osher; Urinetown, CanStage
Outstanding
Direction of a Play
Daniel
Brooks, Bigger Than Jesus; Daniel Brooks, Half Life; Ken Gass, The
Leisure Society; Allen MacInnis, Blue Planet; Joseph Ziegler, Hamlet
Outstanding
Direction of a Musical
Marion
J. Caffey, Ain't Misbehavin'; Ted Dykstra, Aladdin; Guy Mignault,
Autour de Kurt Weill; Jack Obrien, Hairspray; John Rando, Urinetown
Outstanding
Performance by a Male in a Principal Role — Play
Stuart
Hughes, The Dumb Waiter / The Zoo Story; Daniel MacIvor, Cul-De-Sac;
Rick Miller, Bigger Than Jesus; Eric Peterson, Half Life; Paul
Soles, Trying
Outstanding
Performance by a Female in a Principal Role — Play
Marie-Hélène
Fontaine, Le Collier dHélène; Carolyn Hetherington, Half Life;
Melody Johnson, Trout Stanley; Irene Poole, The Leisure Society;
Alison Sealy-Smith, Cast Iron
Outstanding
Performance by a Male in a Principal Role — Musical
Jay
Brazeau, Hairspray; David Keeley, Urinetown; David Lopez, Ain't
Misbehavin'; Derek McGrath, Aladdin; Frank Moore, Urinetown
Outstanding
Performance by a Female in a Principal Role — Musical
Divine
Brown, Ain't Misbehavin'; Mary Ann McDonald, Urinetown; Mary Ann
McDonald, Side by Side by Sondheim; Vanessa Olivarez, Hairspray;
Jennifer Waiser, Urinetown
Outstanding
Performance in a Featured Role in a Play or Musical
Oliver
Dennis, Waiting for Godot; Barbara Gordon, Half Life; Fran Jaye, Hairspray;
Richard Lee, Little Dragon; Mike Shara, Take Me Out; Michael
Simpson, Translations
Outstanding
Set Design
Judith
Bowden, Blue Planet; Beth Kates and Ben Chaisson, Bigger Than Jesus,
Ken MacDonald; Take Me Out, Francis O'Connor, Translations;
Marian Wihak, The Leisure Society
Outstanding
Costume Design
Sarah
Balleux, Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme; Judith Bowden, Blue Planet;
William Ivey Long, Hairspray; Astrid Janson and Julie Renton, The Red
River Rebellion; Francis O'Connor, Translations
Outstanding
Lighting Design
Beth
Kates, Bigger Than Jesus; Kevin Lamotte, Translations; Glen
Charles Landry, Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme; Brian MacDevitt, Urinetown,
Kimberly Purtell, The Leisure Society; Graeme S. Thomson, No Great
Mischief
Outstanding
Sound Design/Composition
Ben
Chaisson, Bigger Than Jesus; Richard Feren, Cul-De-Sac; Keith
Handegord, Urinetown; Wayne Kelso, The Leisure Society; Lyon
Smith, Little Dragon; Ernie Tollar and Maryem Hassan, TollarLe
Collier d'Hélène
Outstanding
Musical Direction
Bob
Foster, Hairspray; William Foster McDaniel, Ain't Misbehavin';
Marek Norman, Dream in High Park — As You Like It; Mike Ross, No
Great Mischief; David Warrack, Aladdin; Stephen Woodjetts, Urinetown
Outstanding
Choreography in a Play or Musical
Marion
J. Caffey, Ain't Misbehavin'; John Carrafa, Urinetown; Tracey
Flye, Aladdin; Sven Johansson, Blue Planet; Jerry Mitchell, Hairspray
Outstanding
Touring Production
Bombshells,
Harbourfront Centre — World Stage Festival and Associated Artists; Dream
Machini, Theatre Passe Muraille and One Yellow Rabbit; Est-ce quon ne
pourrait pas saimer un peu?, Le Théâtre français de Toronto and Théâtre
Loyal de Trac de Bruxelles, Belgique, Lili, Lorraine Kimsa Theatre for
Young People and Dynamo Théâtre; Past Half Remembered, Harbourfront
Centre — Milk International Children's Festival of the Arts and New
International Theatre Encounter (Czechoslovakia/Norway/France/UK co-production)
INDEPENDENT THEATRE DIVISION
Outstanding
New Play or Musical
Erika
Batdorf, Poetic License; T. Beagan, Thy Neighbours Wife; Andy
Massingham, Rough House; Gord Rand, Pond Life; Rick Roberts, Kite
Outstanding
Production
A
Whistle in the Dark, The Company Theatre; Rough House,
Nightswimming; That Time, Theatre Extasis and The Theatre Centre; The
Anger in Ernest and Ernestine, Theatre Columbus; The Strange & Eerie
Memoirs of Billy Wuthergloom, Alianak Theatre Productions in association
with VideoCabaret and Eldritch Theatre
Outstanding
Direction
Leah
Simone Bowen, Thy Neighbours Wife; Leah Cherniak, The Anger in Ernest
and Ernestine; Todd Hammond, Poetic License; Brian Quirt, Rough
House; Rick Roberts, Kite; Jennifer Tarver, That Time
Outstanding
Performance by a Male
Paul
Fauteux, That Time; Andy Massingham, Rough House; Rick Roberts, The
Anger in Ernest and Ernestine; Eric Woolfe, The Strange & Eerie
Memoirs of Billy Wuthergloom; Joseph Ziegler, A Whistle in the Dark
Outstanding
Performance by a Female
Erika
Batdorf, Poetic License; Tara Beagan, Thy Neighbours Wife;
Barbara Gordon, That Time; Yanna McIntosh, Hedda Gabler; Jenny
Young, The Anger in Ernest and Ernestine
Outstanding
Set Design
Glenn
Davidson, The Anger in Ernest and Ernestine; Joanne Dente, That Time;
David Duclos and Steve Lucas, I Know and Feel That Fate is Harsh But I am so
Loath to Accept This; Emma Polimac, The Romance of Magno Rubio;
Teresa Przybylski, Hedda Gabler
Outstanding
Costume Design
Joanne
Dente, That Time; Shawn Kerwin, St. Christopher; Camellia Koo; The
Two Gentlemen of Verona; Heather McCrimmon, The Hollow; Teresa
Przybylski, Hedda Gabler
Outstanding
Lighting Design
Bonnie
Beecher, Hedda Gabler; Rebecca Picherack and Sandra Marcroft, I Know
and Feel That Fate is Harsh But I am so Loath to Accept This; Rebecca
Picherack and Michelle Ramsay, Rough House; Kimberly Purtell, Pond
Life; Michelle Ramsay, That Time
Outstanding
Sound Design/Composition
Romeo
Candido, Banana Boys; Morgan Doctor and Todd Hunter, Between us
Goddesses; Marc Downing, The Strange & Eerie Memoirs of Billy
Wuthergloom; Ian Lefeuvre, Macbeth; E.C. Woodley, That Time
THEATRE FOR YOUNG AUDIENCES DIVISION
Outstanding
Production
And
by the Way Miss..., Theatre Direct Canada; Bed and
Breakfast, Puppetmongers Theatre; Birds Eye View, Cliffhanger
Productions and Theatre LMNOP; Dib and Dob and The Journey Home,
Roseneath Theatre; Where the Wild Things Are, Carousel Players in
Association with Manitoba Theatre for Young People
Outstanding
Performance
Andrew
Craig, Smokescreen; Ensemble, And by the Way Miss...; Ensemble, The
Triple Truth; Ensemble, Dib and Dob and The Journey Home; Blair
Keyzer, Where the Wild Things Are
OPERA DIVISION
Outstanding
Production
Actéon, Opera
Atelier; Constantinople, Tapestry New Opera Works and the Gryphon Trio
in association with Music Toronto, The Banff Centre and Ex Machina; Dido and
Aeneas, Opera Atelier; Don Giovanni, Opera Atelier
Outstanding
Performance
Peggy
Kriha-Dye, Don Giovanni; Nathalie Paulin, Dido and Aeneas; Laura
Pudwell, Dido and Aeneas; Maryem Hassan Tollar; Constantinople;
Monica Whicher; Dido and Aeneas
DANCE DIVISION
Outstanding
New Choreography
Susie
Burpee, Mischance & Fair Fortune; Dominique Dumais, Fading
Shadows / Returning Echoes; Emio Greco and Pieter C. Sholten, Rimasto
Orfano; Matjash Mrozewski, Break Open Play; Heidi Strauss, At
Last; Kinya "Zulu" Tsuruyama, HA-SU — breath of lotus flower
Outstanding
Performance
Susie
Burpee, Countess of Main Events; Susie Burpee, Mischance & Fair
Fortune; Ensemble, Rustling Shadows Ensemble, HA-SU —breath of lotus
flower; Andrea Nann, Source; Yvonne Ng, Fading Shadows /
Returning Echoes
::SPORTS NEWS::
Tyson Retires
Excerpt
from www.eurweb.com
(June
13, 2005) *You knew something was wrong when Mike
Tyson emerged from the locker room without his usual hip hop beats
pounding through the MCI Center’s sound system. If that wasn’t enough of
a hint, maybe it should’ve been his attempt to actually box opponent Kevin
McBride at the first bell instead of barrelling out swinging like the angry
bear we’ve grown accustomed to seeing. The
clues were all there, but Tyson’s love for the sport – by his own admission –
was not. The boxer quit on his stool before the bell signalling the
seventh round of their non-title bout. The once great Iron Mike, who
became the youngest heavyweight champion, suffered his third loss in four
fights and told reporters afterward that his boxing career is
over. "This is it. I'm
finished. It's just not in my heart," Tyson, 38, said during a post-fight
news conference. "I'm just not interested in fighting anymore. I can't lie
to myself. I'm not going to embarrass the sport." McBride came to
Washington D.C. prepared. His game plan was to keep leaning all of his 271
pounds on Tyson, then tie him up to prevent the brawler from delivering any
roundhouse surprises. The tactic allowed McBride to survive the first several
rounds, despite taking Tyson’s hard body shots and textbook uppercuts.
Tyson, meanwhile, was clearly frustrated.
At one point, he decided to punish McBride’s constant holding by twisting his
left arm. In the first minute of the sixth round Tyson was deducted two points
for an intentional headbutt, done seemingly to scare off McBride from coming
inside. The illegal move left a disgusting cut over McBride’s left eye, but the
6’6” fighter stuck to the plan of staying inside. McBride pushed Tyson to the canvas as the sixth round came to a
close. Tyson barely mustered the energy to pick himself up and stagger to his
corner. Seconds later, his camp asked referee Joe Cortez to stop the
fight – stunning the Tyson-favoured crowd who paid anywhere from $50 to $5000
for tickets. Tyson was even pelted with a drink by someone in the MCI
Center as he headed toward the locker room. If this is to be his last fight, he
retires with a 50-6 record that includes 44 knockouts. Tyson will pocket $5
million for the fight while McBride's purse totals $150,000. Still millions in
debt after declaring bankruptcy, Tyson admitted that he took the fight only to
make enough money to pay his bills. He decided that he would retire
should McBride win the fight, but said he would have continued had he won.
Phil Jackson Returns To The Lakers
Excerpt from www.eurweb.com
(June 15, 2005) *For those who
thought this day would never come, you weren’t the only one. "This is
something I never thought could possibly happen. It's a pleasure to come
back," Phil Jackson said Tuesday
at a Staples Center news conference to announce his return to the Los Angeles
Lakers – the very NBA team he exited – with the help of owner Jerry Buss - last
June 18. Questions inevitably turned to
Kobe Bryant, the star Lakers guard whom Jackson spoke ill of in a book about
the 2003-04 season and once dubbed “uncoachable.’ "I think it's a matter of trust, a matter of rebuilding the
trust that we had," Jackson said of his relationship with Bryant.
"And yes, I have talked to Kobe; he actually called me this morning to
congratulate me on the job. And I felt confident that he's confident that we
can go forward." Kobe, meanwhile,
issued the following statement through his agent: "When the Lakers began
the search for a new head coach, I put my complete trust in Dr. Buss and (general
manager) Mitch Kupchak to select the person they thought was best for the
Lakers' organization," Bryant said. "In Phil Jackson, they chose a
proven winner. That is something I support." Jackson's has signed on to coach the Lakers for three years. Although
details were not announced, it's believed he'll be pocketing between $7 million
and $10 million per year, which would make him the highest-paid NBA coach of
all time.
::OTHER NEWS::
Toronto Life Wins Big At Magazine Awards
Excerpt
from The Globe and Mail – By Rebecca Caldwell
(June
11, 20050 For the third year in a row, Toronto
Life was the big winner at the National
Magazine Awards, picking up four gold and four silver awards at the
28th annual gala honouring the best in the country's magazines. Gerald Hannon proved to be the powerhouse
winner of the evening, earning gold medals in both the profiles and the arts
and entertainment categories for his article The Eyes of Ed Burtynsky, as well
as a silver medal in the profiles category for his piece Super Conductor, all
of which were published in Toronto Life.
The Walrus, now in its sophomore awards season, earned the
second-highest number of prizes, receiving four gold awards and two silver
awards. L'actualité and
Maclean's tied for third place, both picking up three gold awards and one
silver award. The Globe and Mail's
Report on Business magazine was nominated for seven awards, but didn't claim
any top honours. Globe and Mail writer
Ian Brown, who acted a host at last night's ceremony at Toronto's Carlu club,
won a silver award for an article published in Chatelaine. Magazine veteran Paul Jones received the
Foundation Award for Outstanding Achievement, an acknowledgment of his work for
a number of industry organizations, including Magazines Canada, the Print
Measurement Bureau and the National Magazine Awards, as well as periodicals
such as Maclean's, Canadian Business, MoneySense and Profit. The President's Medal honouring
"continual overall excellence" went to Maisonneuve, an
English-language general interest Quebec-based monthly whose motto is
"eclectic curiosity." Sophie
Lees was named the recipient of the Alexander Ross Award for Best New Magazine
Writer for her AlbertaViews articles The War on Fat and The Conundrum of Kites.
Paparazzi Targeted By L.A. Criminal
Investigation
Source: Associated Press
(June
10, 2005) Los Angeles — The celebrity hunters have become the hunted. Hollywood's paparazzi are targets of a
criminal investigation that comes amid complaints about their aggressive
tactics. In the wake of a traffic accident involving actress Lindsay Lohan and
a photographer the teen star was trying to escape from, police and prosecutors
continue to investigate allegations ranging from misdemeanours such as
trespassing to more serious crimes like false imprisonment and even potential
conspiracy. "It is my sense that the activities of the paparazzi have
grown more and more aggressive over the last couple years," William Hodgman,
chief of the target crimes division of the Los Angeles County District
Attorney's Office, told the New York Times. He said it would be premature to
say whether the inquiry will lead to charges. Boris Nizon, owner of the Fame
Pictures agency, was unconcerned by the probe. "We obey the law and we
work really professionally," he said. The investigation was launched in
part because of concerns that paparazzi run-ins with celebrities are getting
more dangerous. "There is great concern that someone is going to get hurt,"
Hodgman said. "It's not just the celebrities themselves, but it's third
parties and often children, who could be within the number of those who are
likely to get hurt." Last November, Charlie's Angels star Cameron Diaz and
her pop star boyfriend, Justin Timberlake, snatched away a photographer's
camera when he and a partner surprised them outside a ritzy hotel. And last
month, Lohan narrowly escaped serious injury when her car collided with one
driven by a paparazzi who was allegedly following her. Photographer Galo
Ramirez, 24, was booked for investigation of assault with a deadly weapon, his
car, and released on $35,000 bond. "Watch out for the paparazzi,"
Lohan warned at this year's MTV Movie Awards. Celebrity outrage over paparazzi
antics is nothing new. After Diana, Princess of Wales, was killed in 1997 in a
Paris car crash following a high-speed flight from paparazzi, a chorus of fury
came from some of biggest names in show business at that time — Madonna, Tom
Cruise, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone and Elizabeth Taylor. They
called for everything from consumer boycotts of supermarket tabloids to new
laws on libel and privacy. California even passed a law in 1998 that forbids
"constructive trespass," the use of technologically advanced devices
to watch or eavesdrop on someone in a situation where they have "a
reasonable expectation of privacy."
The Santanas Make Most Of NY Visit
Excerpt
from www.eurweb.com
(June
10, 2005) On Wednesday, the Santanas
will appear at Macy's landmark Herald Square location for a reception and
fashion show spotlighting the Carlos By Carlos
Santana Shoe Collection, a collaboration between the musician and
the Brown Shoe Company. The
"Carlos" line of high-fashion women's footwear is “inspired by
Santana's vibrant spirit and artistry, as reflected in the shoe collection's
rich colours and materials, unique styling and exciting details,” according to
a release. The
first 250 customers who make a Carlos By Carlos Santana shoe at the event will
receive a pass for an exclusive reception with the Santanas and a special
commemorative gift bag. A portion of the proceeds from all sales of
"Carlos" footwear benefits the Milagro Foundation, established by
Deborah and Carlos in 1998. Milagro (which means Miracle) supports
organizations worldwide working with children and youth in the areas of the
arts, education and health, and since its inception has granted close to $2
million.
The following day, Deborah Santana will make an appearance with
Carlos at Barnes & Noble's Lincoln Center store for a special signing of
the audiobook version of her memoir, “Space Between the Stars: My Journey to an
Open Heart.” Mother of three, activist and manager of the Santana Band,
Deborah’s memoir is a moving account of her life growing up in a biracial
family, her adventures in the free-spirited 1960s, her thirty-two year marriage
to Carlos Santana, and her own personal evolution. Carlos, along with son Salvador, composed
the original music accompanying the audiobook edition, which features three
exclusive Santana-penned songs as well as music by Deborah's father, blues
pioneer and guitar legend Saunders King. Deborah will also sign the hardcover
edition, published by Random House's One World/Ballantine Books. Barnes &
Nobles' Santana event begins at 12:30 p.m. at their store located at 1972
Broadway at 66th Street in Manhattan. Everyone attending the book discussion
and signing will also have the chance to win a Paul Reed Smith guitar autographed
by Carlos Santana.
Queen Honours Attenborough
Source: Associated Press
(June
11, 2005) London — TV naturalist David
Attenborough received the prestigious Order
of Merit award Friday from Queen Elizabeth II. The order is a
special distinction awarded by the Queen to people who have shown exceptional
merit in the arts, learning, literature and science or public service.
"How could anyone believe they actually deserved something like
this?" Attenborough said. "I can only think that it is because I have
been able to reach so many people through television." The award was
presented at Buckingham Palace. Attenborough, 79, can now use the letters
"OM" after his name. The prominent conservationist has written,
produced and hosted natural history TV programs for 50 years. His 13-part
series Life on Earth has been seen by millions of people. Attenborough,
who was granted a knighthood in 1985, studied zoology before joining the
British Broadcasting Corp. in 1952. He went on to hold a string of BBC
management posts in the 1960s.
The House That Rick & Russell Built
Excerpt from www.eurweb.com
(June 15, 2005) *This August, Ballantine Books will publish
“Def Jam, Inc.,” the
never-before-told story of Def Jam Records and its roster of famous performers,
featuring interviews with more than 70 Def Jam artists and employees –
including founders Rick Rubin and Russell
Simmons. Written by Stacy Gueraseva, “Def
Jam, Inc.” traces the company's rise from the NYU dorm room of 19-year-old
Rubin, where LL Cool J’s demo tape was heard for the first time. The book also
chronicles the label’s financial struggles and scandals – including the Beastie
Boys' departure from the label and the eventual parting of Rubin and Simmons –
to revealing anecdotes about artists such as Slick Rick, Public Enemy, Foxy
Brown, Jay Z, and DMX. The former editor-in-chief of Simmons's magazine,
Oneworld, Gueraseva offers a fly-on-the-wall look at the company – and decade –
that cemented a new level of hip hop. The hardcover will be released on
August 2.
::FITNESS::
Don't Abuse Cardio
By Michael
Stefano, eFitness Guest Columnist
(June
13, 2005) Whenever I discuss this issue, I'm reminded of Mary, the overweight
aerobics instructor. She led four or five, foot thumping, heart pounding
classes every day, and her students could barely keep up.
So
why is Mary fat?
For
most of us, cardiovascular, or aerobic exercise, usually has one main goal:
elevate heart and breathing to a level where fat is burned as the body's
primary fuel, and at the fastest possible rate. To this end, it's a smart idea
to incorporate at least a moderate amount of cardio into your weekly workout
regimen. But it's not the actual
activity (jogging, swimming, stepping) where most of the benefits are gleamed.
As a matter of fact, jogging for a half an hour barely burns off one doughnut.
Define
Aerobic Exercise
When
you exercise aerobically, you train your muscle cells to burn fat all day,
every day. The production of certain fat-burning enzymes is greatly enhanced,
thereby expanding the benefits of aerobic exercise to 24 hours a day. Again I
ask, "Why is Mary fat?" Let's
look at what it means to "train aerobically." In other words, what
defines aerobic exercise, and compare it to what Mary is putting her body
through. Exercise physiologists measure
cardiovascular exercise with heart rate. Numerous formulas exist for calculating
your optimum fat-burning heart-rate zone. But, for the purposes of this
article, we'll call it 60 to 80 percent of maximum heart rate capacity. Maximum heart rate also needs to be defined,
as it differs with every individual. For the sake of safety, apply the formula
of (220 minus age) to determine your estimated heart rate max.
(220
- 40 = 180)
Forty-year-old
Mary has an estimated max heart rate of 180 beats per minute. With a few simple
calculations we determine Mary's fat burning zone to be between 108 (60
percent) and 144 (80 percent) beats per minute. Every day, Mary leads her loyal students, but her heart rate
never breaks 95. For Mary, the classes cease to be an aerobic event. Sure she's burning some extra calories at
the moment, but we've already determined that the greatest impact on weight
loss is achieved through the ability of the body to adapt to these repeated
cardiovascular demands and increase its capacity to use fat as fuel. The same situation befalls many faithful
proponents of cardio. An initial weight loss of a few pounds barely seems worth
the countless hours spent on the treadmill or exercise bike. It's obvious that
an adjustment needs to be made with this approach.
Short
and Sweat
Keep
it short and keep sweating. A moderate amount of cardio (as low as 15 to 25 minutes),
performed anywhere from two to five times per week, and at the correct heart
rate, will prevent any cardio routine from becoming a stroll in the park. The reduction in time and energy expended
enables you to devote some extra effort to your resistance training. A moderate
amount of resistance, or strength training, when married up with your cardio
program will greatly enhance the overall effectiveness and impact on your body.
Short
Circuit Your Workout
Circuit
training delivers the benefits of both cardiovascular and resistance training
in one workout. By simply sequencing exercises with a short rest between sets
(one minute or less), as well as priming the pump with five or 10 minutes of
traditional cardio (a quick warm-up stint on the stationary bike or treadmill
works nicely), you can get a two-for-one effect. Doing so will add some lean muscle mass, increase overall
metabolism, and change the shape of your body, not just burn fat.
Remember,
traditional cardiovascular exercise needs to remain challenging to sustain its
effect. Measuring heart rate is one way of ensuring adequate intensity exists,
and exercise continues to be effective. Also be sure to combine your aerobic
exercise with some strength training, the true leader in full body conditioning.
Circuit training, a great time and energy saver, is the perfect combination of
both modes of exercise.
EVENTS
–JUNE 16 - 26, 2005
SATURDAY, JUNE 18
THE
A-TEAM
The
Orbit Room
College
Street
10:30
pm
$8.00
EVENT
PROFILE: Featuring Wade O. Brown, Shamakah Ali, Rich Brown,
Adrian Eccleston, David Williams.
SUNDAY, JUNE 19
SOULAR
College
Street Bar
574
College Street (at Manning)
10:30
pm
$5.00
EVENT PROFILE: Featuring Dione
Taylor, Sandy Mamane, Davide Direnzo, Justin Abedin, Dafydd Hughes and David
French.
SUNDAY,
JUNE 19, 2005
Show Time Live & Nu-Urban Soul presents
ALANA BRIDGEWATER and special guests
DAVE MATHEWS and JOHN CAMPBELL
Down One Lounge
49 Front St. East (between Yonge and Church)
Doors open at 8:30 pm
Cover: $10.00 at the door
Or go to www.showtimelive.ca for $5.00 guest list
EVENT PROFILE: We all know that America has produced some great talent … now
let’s see what Toronto has to offer when it comes to LIVE
music! A weekly live music showcase
featuring Toronto’s finest urban performers each and every Sunday! This weekend it’s Toronto’s soul daughter Alana
Bridgewater and special guests Dave Mathews and John
Campbell. Want to get away from all the crowds from
the MMVAs? We’re just enough south that
you won’t have a problem with the FREE parking and you’re guaranteed a quality
show. Spend some time with the men and
women of the Nu-Urban-Soul this Father’s Day.
It’s an early night of fun each and every Sunday. Doors open at 8:30 pm. Hosted by Keyth, Music by DJ Nigel ‘B’. Drink Specials all night. This event is brought to you by Carl Lyte,
Keyth Williams.
MONDAY, JUNE 20
IRIE
MONDAY NIGHT SESSIONS
Irie Food Joint
745 Queen Street W.
10:00 pm
EVENT
PROFILE:
Welcome
to Negril … Ontario, that
is! Yes, Carl’s been at it again and
has completely revamped his back patio for his faithful Irie patrons. And now that the weather is warmer, you just
HAVE to come out party on the new and hip patio. Rain or shine as the patio is covered for our convenience. A real celebration of summer at the hippest
patio in Toronto! DJ Carl Allen will be spinning the tunes while Kayte Burgess and Adrian Eccleston bring
the live music.
MONDAY, JUNE 20
VIP JAM WITH
SPECIAL GUESTS - NEW LOCATION
Indian
Motorcycle
King Street (at Peter)
10:00 pm
NO COVER
EVENT
PROFILE: Featuring host Chris Rouse, Calvin
Beale, Joel Joseph and Shamakah Ali with various local artists.
SATURDAY, JUNE 25
THE
A-TEAM
The
Orbit Room
College
Street
10:30
pm
$8.00
EVENT
PROFILE: Featuring Wade O. Brown, Shamakah Ali, Rich Brown,
Adrian Eccleston, David Williams.
SUNDAY, JUNE 26
SOULAR
College
Street Bar
574
College Street (at Manning)
10:30 pm
$5.00
EVENT
PROFILE: Featuring Dione Taylor, Sandy Mamane,
Davide Direnzo, Justin Abedin, Dafydd Hughes and David French
Have a great week!
Dawn Langfield
Langfield Entertainment
www.langfieldentertainment.com