I recently found my way into a media and technology industry conference where I "accidentally" bumped into the chair of the CRTC, Konrad von Finckenstein, who was surprisingly charming. Our conversation couldn't have been more different from the experiences I've had at CRTC hearings, where commissioners bear down on you with condescending glares, like feudal lords against the backdrop of a row of flags, the CRTC logo hanging overhead in place of a medieval coat of arms.
television
Maury Chaykin's irreplaceable madness
Maury Chaykin died this week on his 61st birthday. Some obits called him a character actor. It's basically a film-TV term -- where Maury mostly worked -- as opposed to star. Another term is supporting actor versus leading man. It's a shame he didn't do more stage work, where physical typing isn't as great. I once wrote a play on the Montreal Canadiens; a sports type who met the actor cast as Rocket Richard said, "You can't have a fat Rocket!" But you can and we did. Maury was a beautiful guy in his prime but not a typical movie lead; yet he'd have made a great Lear or Prospero. Asked by Jian Ghomeshi for a role he felt he'd nailed, Maury joked, "Hamlet," making you think it may have been on his wish list.
Lament for civility
One of the most acrimonious and unproductive political seasons in recent memory breaks for summer this week with calls from an influential Conservative for more "raw debate" and an end to stifling political correctness.
Kory Teneycke is former media chief for Stephen Harper. He is now vice-president of a fledgling all-news television network, Sun TV News, and is ready to take his talent for stinging invective to a larger stage -- and, his critics fear, to accelerate the trivialization of our politics.
Jack, the movie: CBC biopic tells the story of late NDP leader
Watching a film about Jack Layton barely two years after his most untimely death, there is one question you have to ask: Is it too soon?
The tears are barely dry, and it seems only yesterday the beautiful chalk tributes were scrubbed from Toronto City Hall at the behest of Toronto's current mayor.
But upon viewing the film, one realizes it will merely be the first of many. Jack Layton's life was rich with story, and Jack the film is just the first dramatic survey of the life of Jack Layton.
Crime dramas and the revival of television
It feels as if crime news -- think Oscar Pistorius -- is more prominent than it's ever been. Not just where it always rules, in tabloids or all-news radio, but on "serious" outlets like CNN, the New York Times or the CBC -- fast becoming the Crime Broadcasting Corporation. There have always been places where journalism retreats in order to escape dull, headscratchy things like politics and economics. These refuges include weather, natural disasters, traffic accidents, celebrities, awards shows -- I'd like to see a survey on whether crime tops that list right now.
How CBC's move to digital TV will hurt rural Canada
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) is scheduled to shut down its remaining analog TV transmitters -- more than 630 of them across the country -- on July 31, a year ahead of the original schedule.
The move will affect millions of Canadians, particularly those in smaller cities and rural areas. (Cable and satellite subscribers in Canada will not be affected.)
Some of the larger impacted centres include London, Saskatoon, Lethbridge, St. John, Moncton, as well as Sherbrooke, Quebec City, Trois Rivieres and Chicoutimi, according to Angus McKinnon, CBC manager of media relations.
Reimagine CBC Celebration: Past, Present, and Future
Date: Monday, May 7, 2012 - 7:00pm - 10:00pm
Location
The Vogue Theatre
918 Granville Street
Vancouver, BC
V6Z 1L2
Canada
49° 16' 48.4176" N, 123° 7' 18.0264" W
See map: Google Maps
Reimagine CBC - Celebrating CBC: Past, Present, and Future
WHAT: An interactive event bringing together seasoned professionals, up-and-coming CBC talent, outside experts, media innovators, musicians and citizens in a celebratory atmosphere that will add new energy to the CBC and help to articulate a fresh vision for public media in Canada.
How to be a fan of problematic things
Quote:
I like things, and some of those things are problematic. I like Lord of the Rings even though it’s pretty fucked up with regard to women and race (any narrative that says “this whole race is evil” is fucked up, okay). I like A Song of Ice and Fire even though its portrayal of people of colour is problematic, and often I find that its in-text condemnation of patriarchy isn’t obvious enough to justify the sexism displayed.
Bomb Girls is an explosive homegrown TV drama
I'm not generally a fan of network TV. Mostly because I have a kryptonite strength hate on for the reality television that tends to fill the air these days. However on this occasion, I raise a glass to Global for bankrolling, as well as promoting the heck out of "Bomb Girls," a terrific new dramatic Canadian mini-series about a group of women working at a munitions factory during WWII.