What do YOU know about the Streamy's?

You got the Emmy's.
You got the Tony's.
You got the Golden Globe's.
You got the SAG Awards.
You got the the Juno's.
You got the Oscar's.
You got the Grammy's.


You got... the... Streamy's?

Yes, the Streamy Awards.

This award show is not for the professional actors, the creatively developed musicians but for people, like you and me, who have hours upon hours of time on their hands and use it to produce videos which they post on YouTube.

This is the award show for the best vloggers. "To recognize and honour excellence of online video."  There are about 35 categories each praising the work of the video writers, organizers, directors and actors. It's presented in the sparkling city of Los Angeles, California. 

First streamed in 2009 the Streamy Awards have gained popularity steadily from the world wide web, so much so that Larry King in the flesh presented the nominations for an award at the 2013 show. 

He presented alongside Jenna Marbles (w-o-w). This girl, for those who might not know her by name (where do you live...):

Just take that in for a second.

And watch this,

Now, I need to take a second to acknowledge that my girl Grace Helbig took home two awards this year, for Best Personality and Best First-Person Series. Big UPS.

For those of you who don't know her as Grace Helbig, you might know her as "dailygrace" - her vlogging username.

Or just watch her for about 3 minutes:




Well, I personally had no idea that an award show like this existed and am still trying to sift through my feelings towards them. I mean, how does one classify an experienced professional YouTuber versus a novice noob.

Is the title "actor" now redefined? Is acting in front of a computer the same as acting in front of a camera while an assistant feeds you a script?

I just don't know how the universe of YouTube has come this far... Americans now use funding (from where?) to present this show to award a bunch of people who really, really, loved their hobby.

But I suppose all genius and success stems from developing hobbies anyhow.

Guess I should keep up this blogging gig for a bit then, eh?






love.

Inside the Actors Studio: Natalie Portman

Natalie Portman is talented, eloquent, humbling, and a real joy to watch. Through this one interview you will learn much about her life that you may have never known; like the fact that her last name is in fact Hershlag...and not Portman, or that she is a Harvard grad who majored in Psychology (apologies to religious Portman fans who know her like the back of their hands). Let's take a look and some clips from Portman's portfolio of work.


"The Professional"

 


 "Garden State"

"Star Wars"

Her work chronologically!





Just because I can't get enough!

peace

What is the "Harlem Shake"?

It's everywhere. Within milliseconds the globe has been bombarded with these damn video clips. First it was Kony then it was the escapist Ikea monkey and now it's the Harlem Shake.

According to Wikipedia, my internet friend who has never led me astray, the Harlem Shake is, in fact, a meme! Except, this internet meme comes in the form of a video. The innovators of this infectious meme were five teenagers from Queensland, Australia. On YouTube they go by the name of TheSunnyCoastSkate. On February 2nd the teens uploaded their video which was soon proceeded by YouTube vlogging sensation Filthy Frank's own version.

Here, first listen to the original track.






 Now watch the video that gave the Harlem Shake trend its kickstart:

 



Now for Filthy Frank's version:

 


 And if you haven't had enough here are some U of T produced, which I think are fucking great.



St. Michael's College REPRESENT:

 




 U of T's Faculty of Music!!

 




U of T's Con Hall!!!!





I'm sure you have heard enough Harlem Shake for the rest of your life. I will never download this song onto my iPod. Never.





I'm so sorry to do this to you, but you need to see this one. It's by far the most chaotic piece of incredibility I have seen thus far. Wilfred Laurier University's Harlem Shake. Even staff got involved. Take this in:







:)

QUARTET

What a fabulous movie. The dry British wit, the cast of acting monarchs *ahem Maggie Smith, Michael Gambon*, the intermittent performances - violins, oboes, pianos, trumpets, clarinets - and the rather astounding operatic combinations.

What begins as a walk-through of a retirement home full of artists and musicians who still gather to practice and perform amongst each other lead to the developing of a love story between two opera powerhouses that had fallen out of love while in the prime of their musical careers.

Jean Horton (Smith) had been out of the opera business for years after the pressure of performance  for the sake of positive reviews overwhelmed and consumed her. She chose to tune down the bellowing of her life by moving to Beecham House, a retirement home of men and women who left behind artistic legacies like she had. Beecham House was also home to her ex-husband, Reggie (Courtenay). Unbeknownst to Jean, Reggie has no interest in seeing her again. But I'll let you watch the movie to witness how that unfolds.

Anyhow, so Beecham is also home to Cissy (Collins) and Wilf (Connolly), retired operatic starts who had lived full and successful lives. The four share this one thing: they had performed in Giuseppe Verdi's "Rigoletto", and Jean was said to have perfected the vocal performance.

The retirement home is in poor financial state and so Cedric, the self-proclaimed director of most musical performances of the House, suggests the four perform the Quartet one last time in hope of raising money to save Beecham.

I'm not revealing any more. You simply must watch this film.

The script was written tactfully and woven with sensibility and humour. There is a tenderness maintained through the script which is taken to a deeper emotional level through the sheer talent of these acting greats.

You will laugh continuously, you will find yourself surrounded by an audience of a median age of 65, and you will find yourself holding your breath at the beauty of the English landscapes, rolling hills and the continuous sound of operatic beauty.

Executive producer and director of this film, Dustin Hoffman reigns king of multifaceted areas of talent.

The Very Best: Nostalgia

I had been brainstorming about movies I'd watched as a kid and stumbled on the name of a certain movie. When I finally came up with the title of it I knew I had to share it with the world so that it may never be forgotten.

It was then that I figured I should make a list of five moderately unpopular movies that had a ton of impact on my developing childhood mind.

So here they are!

Happily Ever After - something of a sequel to "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves". Here we meet Snow once again and the Dwarves' cousins, the Dwarfelles!

Watch the full length movie here:

A Troll in Central Park - an exiled troll with a green thumb and knack for making the world a happier and greener place, is sent to Central Park where he meets two young children who help him get back to his home!

Watch the trailer here:

The Princess and the Goblin - while her father is away at war, this princess is getting tired of being cooped up in her castle. She comes across a secret, magical attic which leads her to the magical underworld led by goblins!

Watch part one:

The Brave Little Toaster - just like our toys come alive at night, our household appliances come alive when we leave the house. This is the story of a little toaster and his appliance friends who embark on a journey to find their original masters!

Here's the full movie:

Thumbelina - A colourful rendition of the traditional story of a courageous girl who braves the world at only two inches tall!

Watch the full movie!

Watch these movies and show them to your kids. Guaranteed they will never forget them.

"Started from the Middle" - Drake (A Break-down)

Drake dropped his new record this week - "Started From The Bottom", and, being born and raised a Toronna girl, wanted to express some opinions I have about it.

Firstly, take a look at the video if you haven't yet seen it:

Bones to pick: 

One, Drake grew up in Forest Hill. For those who are not familiar with that neighbourhood, it's stated as being "an affluent neighbourhood in central Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Along with Lawrence Park, Rosedale, and The Bridle Path, it is one of Toronto’s wealthiest neighbourhoods", courtesy of Wikipedia. 

He did not slum it like 50 cent or The Game (what happened to that guy?) did or hustle "to make some money to feed my daughters" like Biggy, or come from Georgia and drug deal like T.I. and has not been to jail multiple times like Weezy has. 

So... is "the bottom" relative? No. "The bottom"  is the grind, the hustle, the struggle; not having food on their plates, and scars from bullet wounds. "Starting from the bottom" does not mean, growing up in one of Toronto's wealthiest communities to date. Sorry Drake, you're not as hood as you consider yourself to be.

In fact, I'm sure Nas and Immortal Technique are somewhere out there laughing hysterically while they watch pretty-richboy-Drake's new video. I sure as shit did.

I come from "Vaughan and Oakwood" which borderlines the division between Forest Hill and the government-funded housing. I might say I grew up in the best of both worlds. I've seen "the bottom" and I've driven through the Bridle Path, and man, Drake's conception of "low" is completely skewed.

Forest Hill abode

A, perhaps, more humble living space in F.H.

Shit, there's even bus service

He grew up without a father most of his life. My condolences entirely. I have several friends who grew up the same way and it's tough - "tough" might even be an understatement. But he went to school in a very well-to-do frou-frou part of Toronto. Forest Hill Collegiate Institute was where all the Forest Hillites sent their children. Rich kids. Loads of rich kids. 

Commenting on his "sub-par" living conditions, Drake expressed his mother  "wanted the best for her family. She found us a half of a house we could live in. The other people had the top half, we had the bottom half. I lived in the basement, my mom lived on the first floor. It was not big, it was not luxurious. It was what we could afford." 

Come on. Give me a break. There is absolutely no one should be complaining about having an entire basement to himself, especially when that basement is situated in Forest Hill. It was renovated for Pete's sake. It was spacious. It had a recording studio in it. Fuck off, Drake.

Next,

You will see that Drake worked at Shopper's Drug Mart. Poor kid. My heart goes out to him. He had a part time job - man, that's the pits. 

Spare me.

He grew up the way every middle class individual did. He did not come "from the bottom". He did not come from the top, alright. But he definitely came from two thirds of the way, and that's better than most.

So, Drake. Lose the "I had to hustle to get here, I had to put my education aside to do this, I had to starve for days" attitude. You had clothes on your back, a car to drive, a job to tend to, and friends of status. You are not hood. You did not live the thug life.

That is all.

Just Can't Get Enough - Catch Up

We all have them. Those distractions that we delve into during procrastication. Some of mine come in the form of tweezers, #imgfave, and Twitter. Those which I'd like to share with you today come in the form of weekly sitcoms. Currently, I watch three shows religiously.

1. GIRLS

    2. Once Upon a Time

    3. The Vampire Diaries

I have wrecklessly hopped onto the bandwagon with absolutely no intention of getting off. Take me away, take me to your people, get me into that TV screen.

WARNING: WILL BE SPILLING SECRETS - VERY DEEP, VERY DARK ONES

If you enjoy either of these shows as much as I do, hooray - let's be friends. The point of this blog will be to catch you up if you have not seen the last episodes of each show.

GIRLS

So, Hannah's at work with Ray. It's beautiful and sunny outside, the customers are enjoying their lattes and Ray is glad that he's less of loser today because he is spending his time working - or so I'd assume. Anyhow, a man - a delicious, muscular, golden-haired, blue-eyed man - walks into the cafe and right up to Ray questioning why his garbage bin has been filled with Ray's garbage for the last few weeks. His demeanor is pleasant enough, he seems merely to want to know why this is happening and put a quiet and amiable end to it. Ray does not feel the same way. He flies off the handle completely and cusses off pretty, unknown, stranger in very unfriendly ways.

Pretty, stranger man leaves the shop demanding to have his garbage bin empty so that he can fill it with his own garbage. (LOL...thanks Dunham, what a scenario one might find themselves in). Hannah then runs after pretty boy and follows him to his house. She proceeds to knock on the door. He opens the door, invites her in, offers her some lemonade and she reveals it has been her that has been emptying Ray's garbage into his garbage bin -  for numerous reasons, none funny enough to even bother repeating to you. Then they have sex. Then they have sex again. And again, and again, and once more. Then she makes him beg her to stay the night, which shes does (blantantly gladly) and then they have sex again. He continues to melt us with his eyes and she continues to caress his completely hairless body.

This... This is he.



Hannah then realizes something she had not been aware of before. She wants to be happy. His kindness and friendship (and hanky panky) had demonstrated to her that she infact desired this happiness for herself. She delivers a shpiel about how she had always wanted to experience everything so that she may edit and convey the experience to others. But not anymore. His sexytime was so damn good that she became enlightened. Shit. Sorry, Hannah. Looks like everyone needs real love somtimes, too.



Once Upon a Time

Mr. Gold, Emma and Henry leave Storybrook together embarking on a journey in search of Rumple's lost son. Mr. Gold has serious travel anxiety. Back in Storybrook, Evil Queen Regina who has buddied up with hell-on-earth - her mother - wreaks havoc on the town by releasing a Giant human-hating captive. Snow, Charming and the Dwarves attempt to keep Anton the Giant at bay and away from the town. Anton is convinced Charming was the man that betrayed him years ago. We soon learn that man was Charming's twin brother, who had died eventually, years before. Eventually Snow and Charming work their way into Anton's heart as he realizes they are kind humans and nothing like Charming's evil twin. He softens and agrees to their terms of friendship.

Surprise! He has a magic bean on him, which when fully grown will lead to another realm. The looming  thought at the back of everyone's mind is what Cora could have intended by Anton's and Snow/Charming's meeting. She is a mastermind, after all, and would have foreseen this occurrence.   Ignoring the possibilities of disaster, they plant the bean and Anton, whose magic has worn off and is now human-sized, becomes a member of the Dwarf pack; inheriting the name "Tiny". Hooray... for now.

The Vampire Diaries

I'll keep this short. Everyone's still on the hunt for the cure. Klaus remains locked up under Bonnie's spell with Caroline and Tyler. Bonnie and Jeremy are captured by Shane. Damon captured by fifth member of Vampire Hunter familia. Elena calls Caroline and expresses the utter distress she feels now that Damon is lost. Caroline offers to help from home. Tyler finds Klaus' sword which would reveal the path to the vampire cure. The three "pals" figure out the encrypted message only to learn that there is just ONE CURE for vampirism. Klaus yells this out when Caroline is on the phone with Rebecca. Rebecca, at the time, was the only one with this knowledge. She tells Stefan, Stefan tells Elena. Eventually everyone knows there is only one cure. Somehow most of the crew makes it down into the cave where Silas is buried. Only Bonnie and Jeremy make it to his tomb - Shane has a broken leg; he's useless and they couldn't care less about his survival. Upon seeing the tiny box which holds the cure, they realize there must only be one dose. Bonnie also figures out the only way to loosen the stone-cold vampire's grip on the cure, is to wake him via blood-feeding. Then BAM!!

Catherine strikes again. Bonnie gets stabbed, so she's knocked out. Catherine grabs Jeremy's neck, bites it, and forces it over the frozen mouth of Silas. Silas wakes... Catherine grabs the cure and Silas snaps Jeremy's neck. Was Jeremy wearing the protective ring?? I cant' say I saw it - might have to re-watch the last five minutes of the show.

Peace. Love.

How to Choose a Summer Music Festival: Toronto

It seems that within the past couple years music festivals in Canada have been popping up all over the place. Our neighbours down south are used to the privilege of summer music festivals, what with Coachella, Lollapalooza, and The Governor's Ball to mention a few.

Coachella, L.A. 2012

But last year Toronto was bestowed with the great honor of hosting several summer concerts performed by world renound DJs and bands. NXNE, Toronto Jazz Festival, Digital Dreams, VELD, and the Identity Fest at Echo Beach were some of the lot hosted in T.O. From The Flaming Lips to Steve Aoki, Toronto was bumping and shakingn all summer long to the beat of some fantastic jams.

VELD, Toronto 2012

That was last year. The bar has been raised. The ante is up. What kind of musical festivals can we look forward to this summer?

Well,

• VELD is coming back along with Digital Dreams, and although the lineups have not been disclosed, it can be guaranteed that after the success of last years' events, they will be rolling in bigger and badder.

• The Canadian Music Festival featuring over 800 new local and international artists is being  showcased in 55 venues throughout Toronto's city centre (April)

• Waterfront Blues is back for round eight in its celebration of blues, jazz and R&B (June)

• NXNE, in it's 16th year is back for the killing - rock, indy, grunge, you want to hear it and they'll deliver. (June)

• Osheaga is being hosted in Montreal once again for the vagabonds and wanderous souls who love to travel and explore the vast realms and fellow cities within Canada. (August)

For complete lists of Canadian music festivals check this out:

www.musicfestivaljunkies.com

For events tending more to families, skim through this:

www.hotoronto.com/festivals


Now, on to choosing one, or some, for those who have the pocket change.

1. Decipher your chosen genre of music. Jazz? Soca? Reggae? House and Techno? Rock?
2. Give yourself an expenditure limit. These festivals do not come cheap. Be prepared to dish out $80 minimum. Depending on the length of the festival (some last up to 3 days) and the number of popular headliners will alter the cost of tickets/wristbands.
3. Browse through the links I have posted. Check out the individual websites for each music festival. On them the lineups will be released as well as the starting dates.
4. Lineups, lineups, lineups. Check them out and figure out where your favourite bands or DJs are performing!
5. Consider accomodations, commute time and accessibility.
6. GET. EXCITED.

This might just make your summer the most memorable one yet. Good luck choosing. Sometimes it becomes excrutiatingly difficult trying to decide between two or three festivals because several of your favourite artists are performing at each. Don't forget, there is always next summer!

Peace. Love.

New Age Aquarians

Yesterday night I had the privilege of attending UC Follies' production of 'HAIR' performed at HartHouse Theatre on the St. George Campus at U of T. Directed by the ever-impressive Shak Haq, and comprised of a cast reaching numbers of at least thirty, this was a production full of that 60s flare which is often forgotten about in the culture of the youth of the 00s.

Emmett O' Reilly played the rather, intense, character of Burger. Aidan Sharp played the sensitive character Claude, Bronwen Drummond was Sheila, Madeline Foley the rumbunctious Jeannie and Arianna Benincasa the heartbroken Chrissy. Each of these actors abound in talent and radiated a heat of talent which wafted around and smacked each audience member sitting there that night. O' Reilly in particular used his hands and the intonation of his voice to raise the bar in terms of character development and his consistent attention to detail of the character's nuances and quirks. Foley's slapstick humour brought the rather meek audience to chuckle with laughter, and brought me and a friend of mine to roar with it. Her solos were something fantastic as well. Benincasa's Chrissy was light and likeable and her solo embodied the definition of vocal control.

The ensemble seemed to have been experiencing the after-affects of a long day and long haul through the blizzard. Or maybe they had U of T's mountainous heap of readings on the brain. Whatever it was, the seemed to lack the extra ounce of chutzpah, however continued on with the show just the same. 

The costumes were out of this era. Colours and patterns and bell-bottoms, the movement on the stage was a spectacle in itself.

And the music...oh, the music.

Listen for yourself,

I highly recommend those of you who want to experience the trip of the 60s once again, or for the first time, to head on out to HartHouse Theatre and support the talent UC Follies has to offer.


www.uofttix.ca




Peace, Love.

The Genius that is Jack

How much do you know about Jack White? If you're an avid rock listener you will know he has been a member of The White Stripes. You may have heard about his being part of the Raconteurs. You also may have heard about the band he masterfully organized, The Dead Weather.

But what of his musical innovation? What of his aura? His artistic personality?

I, more of a Dylan and Beatles listener, will try my best to collate my personal knowledge of the man along with what I gather to present to you the clearest syncopation of Jack.

Born John Anthony Gillis, and often referred to as Jack White III, he is renowned for his cheeky lyrics and profoundly for his Rolling Stones' acclamation as being named one of the best guitarists of all time. 

Realistically if what you want is every detail amassed about this man, check out what Wikipedia has to say about him. 

I am here to write about the music. 

He began playing the guitar at the tender age of six and as a teenager was highly influenced by the rock n' roll which emerged during the 60s. The sound which arose out of the studios he recorded his music in was such that altered the route rock n' roll would take during the 90s. Not only are the guitars he uses authentic of the 60s and 70s, but he employs different effects which assist in the rapid modulations of his pitch during solos - producing a distinct sound. He uses amps and distortion generators to achieve a sound unlike many rock artists which were producing music around the same time as he. He even produces a "fake" bass tone by playing two of his guitars through an amplifier set to one octave down, creating a low rumbling sound heard droning in many of his songs, most notably in "Seven Nation Army". It's great shit, man.

With the Raconteurs and The Dead Weather he uses different guitars, all given names, and even plays   instruments like the piano, drums and tambourine.

It is his innovative use of machines that had not been tinkered with in such a way that created the sound Jack was looking for. He is now put in the same list as Hendrix, Morrison, Zeppelin to name a few. 

And, just for your information, he has twenty ideas underway for his next album. "Blunderbuss" part two? We shall see.