If you’re in the mood to do a bit of planet-gazing in the next few days, there’s something special that’s about to happen. I mentioned it in the Leisure Top Six in the May 16 Prairie Dog but from May 25-27 Jupiter (pictured), Venus and Mercury will be extremely chummy in the western sky after sunset.
So check it out if you get a chance.
I don’t think we passed on Friday’s news that the Tories have restored some funding to the Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory (PEARL).
PEARL, which has been tracking ozone depletion, air quality and climate change in the High Arctic since 2005, and contributes data to several international environmental monitoring projects, is run by an informal network of university researchers called the Canadian Network for Detection of Atmospheric Change. The network announced early in 2012 that the station would be forced to cease year-round operations at the end of April that year after being unable to secure the $1.5-million annual funding it needed to stay open all year. The station had been funded primarily by the Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Sciences, a granting agent funded by the federal government from 2000 to 2010. In the 2011 budget, no money was allocated to CFCAS. Instead, $35 million over five years was budgeted for the CCAR program, but it had not yet started accepting applications for funding. The network had applied for other grants, but had been turned down for all of them.
Great news!
Let’s forget about Canada’s terrible government for a second and look across the Atlantic to Great Britain, where teacher unions are casting unprecedented non-confidence votes at* the Tory government’s education secretary, Michael Grove. Grove is the the architect of unpopular education reforms that have provoked substantial backlash. The whole thing reminds me of the conversations about school design and standardized testing we’re having in Saskatchewan.
But the reason I’m mentioning this is that The Guardian has a great column by English author and education expert Sir Kenneth Robinson column on how creativity actually works. The headline: “To Encourage Creativity, Mr Gove, You Must First Understand What It Is”. Here’s an excerpt:
First, creativity, like learning in general, is a highly personal process. We all have different talents and aptitudes and different ways of getting to understand things. Raising achievement in schools means leaving room for these differences and not prescribing a standard steeplechase for everyone to complete at the same time and in the same way.
Second, creativity is not a linear process, in which you have to learn all the necessary skills before you get started. It is true that creative work in any field involves a growing mastery of skills and concepts. It is not true that they have to be mastered before the creative work can begin. Focusing on skills in isolation can kill interest in any discipline. Many people have been put off mathematics for life by endless rote tasks that did nothing to inspire them with the beauty of numbers. Many have spent years grudgingly practicing scales for music examinations only to abandon the instrument altogether once they’ve made the grade.
The real driver of creativity is an appetite for discovery and a passion for the work itself. When students are motivated to learn, they naturally acquire the skills they need to get the work done. Their mastery of them grows as their creative ambitions expand. You’ll find evidence of this process in great teaching in every discipline from football to chemistry.
The column is here and you guys should read it. Go!
*Against? Nah, I like “at”.
1 DEVASTATION IN OKLAHOMA A tornado wrecked a suburb of Oklahoma City yesterday, leaving 24 people dead. Photos here. Especially horrible: an elementary school was leveled.
2 WHAT A WEEKEND As of this morning, two Conservative senators and the PMO’S former chief of staff are holidaying in scenic and sunny resignationland. The Senators, Mike Duffy and Pamela Wallin, have both been subject to probes into shenaniganical expense claims while Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s top man has stepped down because he wrote a $90,000 cheque to Mike Duffy to bail him out of trouble. Turns out a former legal adviser to the PM brokered the deal between Wright and Duffy. CTV reports that in exchange for the $90K and, apparently, a promise that a Senate investigation would go easy on him, Duffy would promise to repay the expenses. CTV also reports that Harper is “very upset” about this mushrooming scandal. I guess that’s why he’s fled the country.
3 AND THEN THERE’S THIS “Dozens of people appointed to plum patronage jobs have been donating to the Conservative party, despite government rules that forbid it.” Yikes.
4 AND THEN THERE’S ROB FORD The Toronto Mayor, who may have been filmed smoking crack cocaine, made his first public appearance since Friday when he dismissed the accusations without denying them. New York magazine has a list of Rob Ford controversies–which includes DUIs, driving while reading, accusations of unwanted touching, belligerent public drunkenness and offering to get oxycontin for constituents, and other nonsense The Star has its own list. This whole story is incredible. Ford seems completely out of control. Forget about staying on as mayor–I can’t see how this guy’s going to still be alive in two years.
5 ASSHOLES IN FLORIDA ARE TRYING TO RUIN A GAY TEENAGER’S LIFE BY SELECTIVELY APPLYING LAWS THAT AREN’T INTENDED FOR SITUATIONS LIKE THIS Jesus Christ. Go help this poor 18 year-old.
6 SO WHAT HAPPENED IN THAT BC ELECTION, ANYWAY? Ill-timed boners for policy, possibly.
HAVE YOU SEEN THIS? I HADN’T. IT’S FUNNY! WATCH IT! Patton Oswalt as the Penguin verses a somewhat, erm, dim Batman.
Just 19 years old, Chaisson already has an EP (A Far Cry From) and two full-length albums (No Loitering and Growing Pains) to his credit. The latter two both received nominations in the Young Performer of the Year category at the Canadian Folk Music Awards, and the Alberta-based Chaisson has also garnered a fair bit of attention on the western Canadian folk festival circuit.
Wednesday night he’s in town to play a show at Bushwakker Brew Pub (9 p.m. start). To give you a sense of what he’s like, here’s video of him performing the title track off Growing Pains at a 2012 show at a Calgary pub:
The 22nd annual Cathedral Village Arts Festival kicks off later today with a parade down Elphinstone St. from 13th to College Ave. (start time 11:30 a.m.). That will be followed by a picnic from noon to 4 p.m. at Les Sherman Park. The festival theme this year is Roots & Wings which symbolizes both the historic connection the neighbourhood has with Regina artists and the broader arts community, and the overall contribution that arts and culture make to the quality of life in a community like Cathedral.
During the May 20-25 run of the festival, a whole pile of music, theatre, literary, visual art and other types of creative events will be happening. Probably your best bet to get up to speed is to grab one of the festival guides that was included in our May 16 issue. But if that’s not doable you can find more information here.
To close here’s a video by one of the musical groups that will be playing at the festival. It’s “Slings & Arrows” by Jeffery Straker, and he and his band will be playing at the Holy Rosary Park Main Stage on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. after the Streetfair:
As the twelfth Star Trek film hits theatres this weekend, I feel compelled to write something about Star Trek. And the best of the twelve films has to be the second, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
After Gene Roddenberry and Paramount Studios decided to move Star Trek from a television show into a movie, the results left Paramount a little unhappy. Star Trek: The Motion Picture had a whopping $46 million budget at a time when that was a lot of money. And while the film did opening at number one at the box office and made a respectable $139 million worldwide (only $82 million domestically) Paramount was hoping for more. The critics weren’t too kind on the film either. The main complaints were that the movie was boring and talky. Paramount also felt that Gene Roddenberry’s interference during production drove up the film’s cost and created an inferior film. When it was decided that they should make a sequel, Roddenberry was removed from production. Harve Bennett was placed in charge of the franchise and Nicholas Meyer was tasked with directing the film.
Continue Reading →
A few days ago it was revealed that Nigel Wright, Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s chief of staff, had picked up a $90,000 tab that senator Mike Duffy had rung up for expense account irregularities related to him representing PEI as a senator while living in Ottawa. Initially, Wright tried to portray the act as one of charity on his part in service of the public interest. But Opposition MPs viewed the matter in a different light, alleging that it was a behind-the-scenes attempt by the Conservatives to short-circuit a Senate investigation into Duffy’s actions.
When the scandal first broke the PM released a statement expressing support for Wright. But today it was announced that Wright had resigned from his position as chief of staff. With Harper set to jet to South America on Tuesday for an official visit to Peru and the Pacific Alliance Leaders Summit in Cali, Columbia May 22-23, the PMO released this statement concerning Wright’s resignation:
“It is with great regret that I have accepted the resignation of Nigel Wright as my Chief of Staff. I accept that Nigel believed he was acting in the public interest, but I understand the decision he has taken to resign. I want to thank Nigel for his tremendous contribution to our Government over the past two and a half years.
“Our Government’s top priority is, and will continue to be, securing jobs and economic growth for Canada. This is the focus of all our efforts and attention.”
Both Duffy, and senator Pamela Wallin from Saskatchewan, whose expense account claims are also being scrutinized by an auditor, have withdrawn from the Conservative caucus. The Opposition, meanwhile, is pressing for further investigation of what it regards as a serious breach of ethics.
As for the government, maybe the Conservatives should consider expanding the scope of their mandate beyond “securing jobs and economic growth for Canada [or at least their backers in the resource sector]” to include principles like honesty, integrity, compassion, peace, stewardship of the environment, promotion of knowledge, creativity and innovation and other ideals that have served this country reasonably well over its 140 plus year history.
According to his official bio, folk artist Cam Penner spent over 10 years in Chicago working at soup kitchens and homeless shelters helping people overcome the daily struggles of life. That experience, not surprisingly, was something that he drew on when it came to song-writing.
Tonight, Penner is in town to play a show at Artesian on 13th (show at 8 p.m., tickets $12 advance and $15 door). To close, here’s video of Penner performing “Driftwood” with guitarist John Wood:
According to Facebook, Structures are a five-piece progressive metal band that calls Toronto home. Tonight, they’re in town to play a show at the Exchange. Also on the bill are Texas In July, Northlane and Intervals.
Doors are at 7 p.m., and tickets are $17 advance and $20 door. To get you pumped up for the show here’s video of the band’s drummer playing along to tracks laid down by other band members for the song “In Pursuit Of”:
This crazy thing keeps getting crazier. From Gawker:
As you may have heard, Rob Ford, the mayor of Toronto, smokes crack cocaine. We’ve seen a video of him smoking crack cocaine, and the people who have the video would like to sell it. Through the miracle of crowdfunding, you can help. Please consider donating to the Rob Ford Crackstarter.
How Much Do We Need? $200,000. That’s what the owners of the video want. That sounds like a lot of money. The good people at Indiegogo believe that, with the appropriate amount ofvirality, that goal is achievable.
Christ, That’s a Lot of Money. Yes, it is. But they’ve got the video! And it’s not all about greed, though of course most of it is. The owners of this video fear for their safety, and want enough money to pay for a chance to get out of Toronto and set up in a new town. Their fear is not entirely unwarranted. Rob Ford is a powerful if buffoonish man, and he was wrapped up in a drug scene that purportedly involved many other prominent Toronto figures.
What Will We Get? A crystal clear, well-lit video of the mayor of Toronto smoking crack cocaine, published on Gawker for the world to see. We will also be throwing in some perks, for specific donation amounts. But the main thing is the video of the mayor of Toronto smoking crack cocaine.
This is going to end with Ford fighting biplanes at the top of the CN tower, isn’t it? Oh Gawker. Oh Internet. Oh Rob Ford.
In a post a couple of weeks ago on the Regina Riot starting their 2013 WWCFL campaign I commented on the dearth of information out of the Lingerie Football League head office in Las Vegas as to the possibility of a second season for the Regina Rage and the rest of the teams in the LFL’s Canadian loop.
Today, we received an e-mail at our office announcing that the Rage will be holding a tryout camp at O’Neill High School (136 Argyle St.) on May 25 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. To de-emphasize the sport’s more salacious aspects the league’s name has been changed to the Legends Football League although when the 2013 season starts in September I believe the players will still be outfitted in lingerie-type uniforms.
The Riot, by the way, are off to a 2W-0L start to their season after wins over the Manitoba Fearless (35-0) and Saskatoon Valkyries (15-7). On Sunday, they’ll play their first road game of 2013 against the Nomads in Winnipeg.
1 MEDIA PEOPLES SAY THEY SAW A CELL PHONE VIDEO OF TORONTO MAYOR ROB FORD SMOKING CRACK IN A ROOM WITH A GUY WHO’S NOW DEAD The story broke on Gawker, the Toronto Star followed immediately and now it’s everywhere. Ford denies, denies, denies.
2 EARTHQUAKE IN EASTERN CANADA! And it isn’t even the top news story thanks to Hurricane Ford.
3 R.I.P. ELIJAH HARPER The Manitoba politician and First Nations leader passes away at the too-young age of 64.
4 MIKE DUFFY QUITS CONSERVATIVES The Canadian senator who accepted a $90,000 loan/gift/whatever from Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s chief of staff has resigned from his caucus and will sit as an independent. There’s also a chance his controversial travel expenses could get a second audit.
5 MEANWHILE IN THE MIDDLE EAST Russia sends modern weapons to Syria, dozens of people were killed in a mosque bombing and Iran says it’s unconstitutional for women to be president.
6 THE POTHOLE TOUR 2013 Regina Mayor Michael Fougere inspects road holes.
MANDATORY NEW STAR TREK MOVIE DAY VIDEO Ding!
Barney’s son Dustin was in town last month to play JunoFest with his band the Smokes. Now it’s dad’s turn to show what he can do. Born in Toronto in the mid 1950s, Bentall is a long-time resident of B.C. who’s been active in the Canadian music industry since the early ’90s. Tonight he’s in town to play a show at the Pump Roadhouse (tickets are $20).
I couldn’t find much in the way of good quality video, but here’s a performance of “Something to Live For” from a 2011 concert in Stanley Park:
