art and ideas

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Defenders of the great white north.

February 19, 2010 in Blog, Sort-of funny, art and ideas | 3 comments

I have a theory.

Okay, I have a lot of theories, and I try the patience of my long-suffering friends by expounding on them, often over whiskey (neat), sometimes while one or another of those long-suffering friends keeps me from plunging sideways into a bonfire or through a coffee table. Even when generously marinated in Ireland’s finest, I exhibit perspicacity and blarney than amuses more often than it angers. At least, that’s how I choose to remember it in the clear light of day. It is the only explanation for my continued rescue from the fate that awaits those who are unrestrained in both consumption of whiskey and expression of half-baked opinions, though perhaps I should give more credit to the kind natures and loving hearts of my friends.

But this is one pet theory I’ve cherished for almost a decade, and I think it’s ready for the slightly more public forum of the world wide web. I’m not sure the world - and, in particular, Canadians - are ready for this; it’s controversial, it’s going to inflame strong opinions and, no doubt, passionate debate. So, before I go on, I implore you to keep it civil in the comments.

My friends in the United States may not be aware of this, but in Canada, ‘north’ is a place the is completely subject to interpretation. To some people, mostly Torontonians, I live in the north, even though I’m actually more eastish in relation to them. To me, Sudbury and North Bay is the real, no-foolin’ north (it even says so in the name), and Thunder Bay has true northiness. But what I rarely stop to consider (and I think my southern Ontario neighbours are with me on this one), is that most of Canada is north of all of the places I’ve named, and that actually none of them are even north of the 49th parallel. Kapuskasing mocks the northiness of Thunder Bay, and Nunvavut sits secure in the knowledge of being the northest of us all.

So, to simplify; people think we’re all north in Canada, we think we’re all north, and everyone north of each of us thinks everyone south of them is the southiest. Add to that the idea that being a southern Canadian is like having cooties forever, and then being a southern Ontarian is like cooties to the power of infinity. We’re lame. We’re not aware of how lame we are, but everyone else in Canada knows it like they know where you get a double-double and where you buy a two-four. Read the rest of this entry »

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Balance and Recovery

January 23, 2010 in Blog, Current Projects, Ideas, art and ideas | 7 comments

Six years ago, give or take, I was diagnosed with Clinical Depression. Having spent years feeling a kind of hopeless dull normal, it was a relief to hear from a medical professional that it wasn’t just me; it wasn’t just that I’m weaker than everyone else, or less capable of taking the unbearable awfulness of my life, as I’d suspected. The chemicals in my brain were imbalanced. This could be fixed.

I think those first few years I must have been a bit weird; assigned a drug with a name that implied it would work (Effexor - now with even more effex!), I found I’d traded one kind of miserable for another, though it was a more bearable misery. I wished for a switch to flip, a miracle, a fixer. I wished (oh, I still do) that they could find my depression and cut it out where it lies. We tried different drugs, different doses, and eventually I found that what really helped was Omega 3-6-9 capsules and exercise, and everything improved dramatically after that.

But lingering at the back of my mind is the fear that I’ll slip, or that the Omega’s effects will wear off and I’ll be back where I started or worse. I’ve read the literature; Clinical Depression is theorized to essentially scar your brain, making it easy to fall back into the chasm you’ve hauled yourself out of. I don’t mind being sad sometimes, but that unvarying sameness of depression isn’t sadness. It’s hard to describe, but it’s not the same as being sad. I look back at it with a horror that motivates me now to ensure I never go back there. Read the rest of this entry »

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New Moon - How to Deal With It

November 25, 2009 in Blog, Community, Movie Reviews, art and ideas | 3 comments

So last Friday afternoon my sisters and I went to see the newest film in the Twilight saga, New Moon. Why would a 32-year-old woman and her adult sisters would go see this movie? There are three reasons:

1. Twilight is a huge cultural phenomenon, and to avoid seeing this movie is to ignore the obsession of an entire generation. Also, years of jokes and parodies which you won’t get because you skipped it.

2. These movies are a laugh riot. I mean, unintentional, but they’re hilarious. Much more funny than most comedies.

3. Robert Pattinson is pretty hot.

So New Moon.

I was going to write a review and be hilarious at the expense of this movie, but you’ll probably see it, and the humour implicit in Italian vampires who don’t wear any socks and teenage werewolves who never wear shirts will be clear to you. Instead I’m going to talk directly to the parents of the teens and pre-teens who are going to see this film.

Firstly, don’t fool yourself: this series is not about abstinence. It’s about sex. Lots of it. In the near future. The whole series is designed to get the readers wound up, essentially, into a dreamy, inexperienced sexual frenzy. That’s how they sell merchandise. It’s not rocket science.

There’s probably no way you can avoid having your kid see any of the movies from this series unless you’re raising a socially maladjusted freak. By hook or by crook, even if you forbid your kid from seeing this film, they’ll find a way. When they’re older they will probably also get into your liquor cabinet. So don’t go through all the drama of making these films or books forbidden fruit; you’ve got bigger fish to fry. Take them to see it. It’s really not worth fighting about.

But when the film is done, by god, sit them down and have a conversation. Read the rest of this entry »

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In Praise of Generalists.

October 23, 2009 in Blog, Community, TV, art and ideas | 2 comments

Okay, yes: I’ve been watching a lot of TV lately. I used to watch a lot of movies, but I feel like there’s not a lot of interesting stuff happening there and I wonder if culturally we need a little break from the 90-120 minute format for storytelling. So I’ve been watching TV shows, where the plot arc is long and filled with potential for character development. Character development is just about the only thing I’m interested in watching these days. Well, okay, character development and shirtless men. I have facets.

I was a kid in the 80s, when TV (and fashion) was awful. Characters had one dimension; plots were hackneyed and predictable. Characters didn’t develop, and the end of an episode was like a magic reset button; nothing changed, everything went back to how it had been at the beginning of the episode. How it had always been.

Online, I’ve noticed that people of my generation seem to be doing this to themselves: casting one facet of their personality in the role of The Interesting Thing About me so they can blog about it and (eventually, I assume it’s hoped) get a book deal or a television show of their very own. Tech blogs, political blogs, movie blogs, mommy blogs - if you can name it, there’s someone out there blogging about it to the exclusion of all else. It draws an audience of like-minded people, and soon you get a marvelous infinite recursion*, where the only change is that opinions get more extreme, entrenched and isolated from the rest of the world. Read the rest of this entry »

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Music is a part of the festival, not the point of the festival.

September 2, 2009 in Community, Current Projects, Music, art and ideas | 3 comments

So the Peterborough Folk Festival pulled off beautifully; The opening Gala with Ian Tamblyn was perfect, standing-room-only. The Saturday free festival was somewhat hampered by tamblyn-gala-at-canoe-museum rain in the morning, and I think we had half our usual attendance (I also didn’t realize, I think, how many people come from out of town to PFF) due to the forecast sounding dire and miserable. But it turned out to be a beautiful day, with people saying ‘best PFF ever.’ And the workshops at Sadleir House were well-attended (better-attended than I anticipated by half) and really, really good.

I am continuing, as I had planned, as Artistic Director, and stepping down as Executive Director. Partially for continuity, and to be there in a mentoring role to whomever becomes ED, and partially because I really love being involved with the festival, and the things I’ve always dreamed of doing will be possible if I’m freed up in other areas. Also because I’ve already started booking acts for next year.

Raging Asian Women were the runaway success; they’re incredible, and wonderful, gracious people who completely get the festival and the spirit of the event and enhanced it by their presence. Unity were also amazing; I wish the weather had been better before their set, as more people ought to have heard them, but the first song in particular was freakin’ crazy-good. David Newland soldiered on throughout the entire weekend, inspiring and enlightening wherever he went. David Simard is always a treat to be around, and his music is gorgeous. Sheesham and Lotus were fabulous evening hosts, and put on a terrific set (as attested by their CD sales, which were through the roof). Elliott Brood were brilliant, and the perfect end to the evening, and the super-sweetest guys on earth to work with. Read the rest of this entry »

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Rage against the folk.

July 27, 2009 in Advice for Musicians, Blog, Music, art and ideas | No comments

I’m always surprised by the level of vitriol that the festival engenders lately.

I mean, the general public have very little criticism; last year I could barely move ten feet without being slapped on the back and told that it was the best PFF ever. The only post-festival complaint I heard was that the t-shirts didn’t have the year on them (we’re remedying that this year!).

But the whole summer had been a barrage of anger from ex-Board members, who hated that we were adding a beer tent and hated that we were moving the festival to Saturday. I couldn’t understand it at the time - I mean, some of these people had campaigned for a beer tent when they were on the Board, and the change of day just seemed like common sense, from a promotions standpoint.

This year I’m getting a lot of anger from musicians who didn’t get booked; like, a really disproportionate amount of anger. We don’t pay all that well (I do my best with the funds I have), we’re not super high-profile. We’re one of the smallest-budget festivals in Ontario. Our audience is almost entirely drawn from people in this County. I was having a hard time piecing together where the rage was coming from.

Some claim that they’re angry because I’m not booking enough local acts, but a glance at my lineup this year reveals, if anything, too many local acts, or acts with local ties (it’s awesome though - seriously - but I might be in trouble with one of my funders if I’m not careful). I generally book about 50% local, but this year it’s a lot higher.
I’ve also had a few out-of-towners rage at me.

But, in thinking about it, and talking to people about it, it seems pretty clear that the anger, the vitriol, are all coming out of the success of the festival. It’s artistically better, more beautiful, better-attended, better organized, more fun, and higher-profile than ever before. I’ve worked on the festival for a long time, and I’ve never heard anything more than the occasional grumble from bands who didn’t get booked until the last couple of years. Nothing like this.

But then, you don’t get angry about not getting booked for an okay, mediocre or shitty gig. We’ve made the festival a good thing, and as a result, people get pissed off when they don’t get in.

So, crazy as it is, I’m going to take every bitchy thing that’s said about me or the Board or the festival by a musician as a testimony to our success. Because if they didn’t care about whether or not they got in, I wouldn’t be doing my job.

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