September 29, 2008

By David Topping

The Best of Word On The Street

Photo by Jen Cooper.

Once a year, on the last Sunday of September, Queen's Park is transformed into a haven for lovers of the written word. Not only is Word On The Street a great chance to find both book and magazine publishers offering deep discounts and freebies, but readers also get a chance to meet their favourite scribes in person. With more than 250 exhibits, about 250 of Canada's top authors, poets, storytellers, and presenters, and close to 200 readings, performances, and workshops, Toronto's edition of Word On The Street can be a daunting day to navigate. That's why Torontoist has put together a handy list of highlights so you can use your time wisely on September 28 to catch the best of the best and, of course, a deal or two.

Launch Pop-up Map

The Bestseller's Stage, located on the east side of Queen's Park, is exactly what it sounds like. Here you'll catch inspiring A-list writers like Andrew Pyper (11:45 a.m.) and Austin Clarke (2 p.m.) reading from their latest releases. The author signing tents throughout the park also mean you can grab some face time with the person that penned the book on your bedside table. If you're looking for something a little different than the top ten, head on over to the Comic and Graphic Novels Tent a few tents over to take in Ray Fawkes and Cameron Stewart discussing their fabulous futuristic girl-rock graphic novel The Apocalipstix (1:30 p.m.), or hang out with indie-hero Jim Munroe and celebrated cartoonist Ramón Pérez for "10 Tips to Get Your Writing Out There."

Lovers of a literary look at Toronto will want to spend a bulk of their day at the Diaspora Dialogues Tent in the centre of the park. The organization, which strives to support the creation and presentation of new fiction, poetry, and drama about our city, has managed to schedule what is perhaps the most interesting roster of the day. Noteworthy writers each take on a T.O. neighbourhood for description and discussion. The day starts with Katherine Govier and others tackling The Annex and Downtown (11 a.m.), writers such as Ken Babstock take on "The Far East" at 2 p.m., and the day ends with "Aren't We Awful?" a fantastic Toronto Noir showcase featuring indie stars RM Vaughan, Emily Schultz, Heather Birrell, Sean Dixon, and Nathaniel G. Moore.

If queer is what you're there for, head next door to the Proud Voices Tent to check out the always entertaining R.M. Vaughan reading from his latest poetry release, Troubled (12:30 p.m.), or catch Derek McCormack reading from his already well-received brand new novella The Show That Smells (4:30 p.m.) There's also a little something for grown-ups at the Ideaspace Young Adult Marquee. At 1 p.m. you can watch Mariko Tamaki make an appearance with her critically acclaimed graphic novel Skim, while YA author and self-proclaimed saucy tart Kristyn Dunnion appears with Big Big Sky at 1:30 p.m.

If that weren't enough, there are plenty of musical acts to enjoy throughout the day at the Eye Weekly Music Stage, hosted by writer Brian Joseph Davis. You can start off with a little Forest City Lovers at 11:45 a.m. and end the perfect day right with Ohbijou at 5:15 p.m.

Don't forget the all-day deals. There will be slashed prices and freebies with purchase at the Broken Pencil Magazine table, and toonie back issues for sale at both Taddle Creek and Shameless Magazine. Coach House Books will be offering most of their stock tax-free and for 25% off, while both House of Anansi and Groundwood Books are offering backlist titles for a mere $5 or $10. Like many publishers, Anansi’s going green this year, forgoing plastic bags and encouraging book buyers to visit the Groundwood Books booth to receive a free tote with purchase. If you don't plan to take advantage of the freebie, make sure you bring your own to cart around all of your finds.

Toronto's Word On The Street runs from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Queen's Park on September 28. Check out their website for a comprehensive events listing, author bios, contests, and more.

Bloor-yorkville Celebrates Scotiabank Nuit Blanche

When: Saturday, October 4, 2008 6:52 pm to sunrise
Where: Throughout Bloor-Yorkville a free all night contemporary art event

For one sleepless night experience local Independent Projects and shop for Midnight Madness.

One night only. All night long.

From sunset at 6:52 pm on Saturday, October 4, to sunrise at 7:14 am on Sunday, October 5, 2008, Bloor-Yorkville will be bustling with activity, as thousands experience a full night of contemporary art and performance. Bloor-Yorkville BIA is proud to be an Arts Patron for Zone A.

Thousands of people will be attending this all-night gallery crawl and street celebration. From sunset to sunrise on October 4th Bloor-Yorkville will be part of the excitement where our zone will host 12 exhibitions in galleries and museums and unexpected places.

FREE PARKING – MANULIFE CENTRE
6 pm (Sat. Oct. 4th) to 6 am (Sun. Oct. 5th)
Manulife Centre Underground Parking is conveniently located in the heart of Bloor-Yorkville with easy access off Charles Street , 1 block south of Bloor.

For more information please visit: www.bloor-yorkville.com

MIDNIGHT MADNESS:

6:52 pm – Midnight
One night only in Bloor-Yorkville.
A unique shopping & dining experience.

In addition to extended subway hours, over 37 Bloor-Yorkville shops, galleries, salons, restaurants, coffee shops and bars will be open for Nuit Blanche Midnight Madness from 6:52 pm to Midnight.

See details on participating locations with special promotions and entertainment: http://www.bloor-yorkville.com/nuit_...anche0808.html

Bloor-Yorkville will become an artist playground for a series of exhilarating art experiences including the following:
INDEPENDENT PROJECTS: BLOOR – YORKVILLE

NB POST
Village of Yorkville Park ( Cumberland St. & Bellair St .)
416-928-3553 x 24
Laura Pacione
Installation, Performance Art

At NB Post, efficient chaos is our business. Step into the NB Post Office and select a completely unique postcard. Write a message, drop it in the mailbox and NB Post will do the rest!

Wearing the official NB Post uniform, postal workers will travel all over Zone A in search of recipients. The mail will arrive on time, all night long! NB Post prides itself on being an equal opportunity mail service; everyone should have the opportunity to experience the joy of letter mail!

To facilitate this equal-opportunity mandate, NB Post will pre-address all of its postcards for delivery to YOU in Zone A. Enthusiastic postal workers will proudly announce the arrival of the mail: “YOU Sir…yes, YOU! There’s mail here for YOU! Young lady, here’s your mail! Let me check the address… Oh yes, Zone A… It’s addressed to YOU.”

SUPPORTED BY:




Laura Pacione, NB Postcard
Photo: Alistar Scott

Church of the Redeemer
162 Bloor St. West
416.922.4948

Special musical performances.
Music Concert
www.theredeemer.ca


Drabinsky Gallery
122 Scollard St.
416.324.5766

Contemporary Art
Selected American and International Artists.
Visual Art
www.drabinskygallery.com




Drabinsky Gallery, Exterior

Gallery Gevik
12 Hazelton Ave.
416.968.0901

Harold Town Exhibition: Paintings and Works on Paper
Featuring an insightful presentation of the art & life of Harold Town by guest speaker, author Iris Nowell 9-10 pm.
Visual Art, Guest Speaker
www.gevik.com




Harold Town, Toy Horse
# 229, 1979
Photo: Gallery Gevik

Gardiner Museum
111 Queen’s Park
416.586.8080

Z’otz Collective at Mexican Days of the Dead: Food for Thought
Nahum Flores , Erik Jerezano, Ilyana Martinez
Installation, Sculpture, Visual Art, Performance Art, Video Installation, Multimedia Installation

Z’otz Collective will collaborate all night to create a multimedia drawing, “The Elephant’s Notes and Other Clay Encounters” in the Gardiner Museum lobby.
www.gardinermuseum.com




Z’otz Collective,
The Loot 2008
Photo: Z’otz Collective

Hollander York Gallery
110 Yorkville Ave.
416.923.9275

Dusk ‘til Dawn: Painting to the Beat
Lynda Schneider-Granatstein, Elka Nowicka, Douglas Edwards, Valerie Butters

Gallery artists & the city’s musicians will keep the mood lively and the night young as paintings emerge on canvasses to the beat of live jazz.
www.hollanderyorkgallery.com




Leif Ostlund, Gallery artist painting at Hollander York Gallery – Nuit Blanche 200
Photo: Meiling Kim

Japan Foundation
131 Bloor St. West, 2nd Floor , The Colonnade
416.966.1600 x 229

Flight over Landscapes
Akira Kurosaki, Kyoko Sakamoto, Wayne Crothers, Rebecca Salter, Keisuke Ohno, Miki Kuroki, Ralph Kiggell, Keizo Sato, Moya Blight, Elizabeth Forrest, Hiroaki Matsu, Mamoru Oshii
Visual Art, Video Installation

A contemporary woodblock exhibition featuring 10 artists presented with a special DVD screening of “Tokyo Scanner” by Hiroaki Matsu and Mamoru Oshii.
www.jftor.org




Tokyo Scanner DVD Screening – Japan Foundation

Kinsman Robinson
108 Cumberland St.
416.964.2374

Norval Morrisseau – Transcending One
Visual Art

By interpreting Ojibwa legends, Morrisseau depicts all levels of human existence. Viewers might experience a spiritual awakening by taking in the sheer size, complexity, symbolism and “healing” colours in these magnificent artworks.
www.kinsmanrobinson.com




Norval Morrisseau,
Shaman Appears Before All Creatures, 1991

Royal Ontario Museum
100 Queen’s Park
416.586.5524

The 2008 Sobey Art Award Exhibition
Tim Lee, Daniel Barrow, Terence Koh, Raphaeelle de Groot, Mario Doucette
Installation

The Institute of Contemporary Culture at the ROM hosts an exhibition of major recent works by five award winning finalists.
www.sobeyartaward.ca/winners

C5 Restaurant Lounge, atop the world-renowned Michael Lee-Chin Crystal, will be open for fine dining a la carte. Also open for your enjoyment is the Chen Court Cocktail Bar on Level One.




Mario Doucette, 1755 (Curling III), 2008

Royal Ontario Museum & Royal Conservatory of Music
Bloor St. West at Avenue Road
416.586.8000

Dance Royal 2008
Dr. Draw and diverse musical and dance performers
Performance Art, Light Installation, Music Concert

Violinist & artist Dr. Draw leads a spectacular 2-hour dance event, mashing musical genres from classical to rock, in front of the ROM from 9-11 pm.




Dr. Draw Performs at Bloor St. West at Avenue Road

Toronto Reference Library
789 Yonge Street
416-393-7131

Circus of Dreams
Group Exhibition
Installation, Performance Art

A light installation transforms the Toronto Reference Library's dramatic atrium into a nighttime forest space, featuring a waterfall fashioned from fabric. Participate in dreamy storytelling, led by the Rosedale Heights Improv Team. Inside the TD Gallery, discover the history of the Big Top - with posters, prints, rare books and other items from the library's Special Collections.

Outside on Yonge Street , thrill to the magic of fire dancers and stilt walkers from SwizzleStick Theatre (outdoors activities open from 7 pm to 1 am).
www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/nuitblanche




Toronto Reference Library, Circus of Dreams

Yay! - Yorkville at Yonge
Yorkville Avenue - Yonge St. to Bay St .

Shadow and Light Show & Outdoor Film Projection

Come see the shadow & light shows by Theatre Peace puppeteer, Guy Doucette in the windows above: 1 Yorkville Ave. , Historic Yorkville Library and Lovecraft for passers by to enjoy. A family film will be projected on a giant screen above 1 Yorkville Ave , 8:30 pm – midnight.




Shadow & Light Show along Yorkville Avenue (Yonge to Bay)

For full Scotiabank Nuit Blanche Guide details visit: www.scotiabanknuitblanche.ca
“Park after Dark from dusk until dawn”

The Toronto News Media Map and Advertising

Torstar, CTVglobemedia, Canwest, Rogers, Quebecor, and CBC are the big ones, but independents like Now and other web dailies (such as the one you're reading right now) are also vying for your eyes.

If you're getting the lion's share of your news from any given area on the map above, and not branching out and getting news from other sources, can you be sure that you're not missing out on equally valuable but different perspectives?

News media in Toronto is following trends similar to those around the world - large corporations buy up smaller companies, and they also diversify by purchasing other forms of media and entertainment properties (such as magazines, television stations, telecommunications, and even pro sports facilities). Needless to say, this has profound implications - including the increase in popularity of cross-property advertising.

It's expected that Rogers will use dedicated ad space to advertise its mobile phone, Internet, and TV services on the web pages of its subsidiary news organizations such as 680news and CityNews (much like blogTO promotes its Urban Maps in dedicated ad space on blogto.com).

But should it also be expected and accepted that those sames news organizations sell products and services through actual news articles?

Advertising masquerading as Toronto news isn't new, but it's sometimes so blatantly obvious and deceitful that it often makes me wonder how much we're willing to take, and how far this concept can be pushed.

Should Rogers be carefully and creatively crafting news bits to help sell over-priced football tickets, and appeal to our desires for a raise at work during tough economic times by hawking its magazines on CityNews.ca?

Should Canwest use arguably skewed news items in the National Post and Canada.com to advertise viral marketing ploys for TV shows on their entertainment TV networks?

Should CTVGlobeMedia allow advertisements for real estate listings to be slyly incorporated into the Ontario news RSS feed and posted as news articles in the Arts section of the Globe and Mail?

Does the fact that everyone's doing it make it more acceptable?

One thing is for sure - as the the news media landscape in Toronto continues to experience conglomeration, widening political slant, and a shift from print to clickable text online, it's becoming more and more important to understand who is who.

In the very least, it's my hope that the map above helps Torontonians better understand where their news comes from and help they better make decisions about what sources they rely on.

Emmy telecast bombs in ratings and reviews

By Steve Gorman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The 60th annual Primetime Emmys show, roundly panned by critics as perhaps the worst ever, laid a big, fat ratings egg as well, with early figures pointing to the smallest audience in the awards' history.

According to preliminary data from Nielsen Media Research, ABC's three-hour Sunday telecast, featuring major wins for "Mad Men" and "30 Rock," averaged 12.2 million viewers, falling just below the historic low of 12.3 million posted by the 1990 ceremony aired on Fox.

Final national ratings for Sunday's broadcasts are due Tuesday.

By comparison, 13 million viewers tuned in for last year's ceremony and its farewell send-off of "The Sopranos," which ranked as the second-lowest Emmys audience on the books.

Sunday's telecast no doubt suffered from the fact that the shows and stars getting most of the attention, including best drama "Mad Men," comedy champion "30 Rock" and winning actors from shows like "Damages" and "Breaking Bad," represent programs that draw relatively few viewers themselves.

The Emmy telecast on ABC also collided in the eastern half of the country with NBC's highly rated Sunday Night Football broadcast of the Dallas Cowboys' 27-16 defeat of the Green Bay Packers.

And many New York viewers were likely siphoned off by an ESPN telecast of the last baseball game by the New York Yankees at historic Yankee Stadium.

Still, ABC's cause was not helped by an Emmy presentation that critics largely derided as a flop, especially an oddly ad-libbed opening monologue shared by five reality-show hosts who served as the evening's collective emcees.

In an apparent homage to their unscripted TV genre, Howie Mandell ("Deal or No Deal"), Ryan Seacrest ("American Idol") Jeff Probst ("Survivor"), Tom Bergeron ("Dancing with the Stars") and Heidi Klum ("Project Runway") took to the stage for about five minutes to joke about how they literally had nothing prepared to say.

Probst, Seacrest and Mandell then left the stage to Bergeron and Klum, who were joined by William Shatner for a gag that involved ripping off Klum's clothes.

The whole bit was panned by reviewers and other performers. Emmy winner Jeremy Piven, co-star of HBO's "Entourage," called the opening confusing and a "celebration of nothingness."

The ceremony then lurched into overdrive by mid-show with many presenters and winners forced to rush through their appearances to make up for lost time.

"It was hideously awful from start to harried finish, dragged down by five amateurish reality anchors who would have been unwelcome as guests, let alone hosts," USA Today wrote.

ABC, a unit of the Walt Disney Co. and fellow networks doubt hoped for a more auspicious official kickoff to prime-time TV's premiere week, seen by industry executives as a kind of reboot for television after last season was cut short by the Hollywood writers strike.

Reuters/Nielsen

Lesotho mine yields one of world's largest diamonds

Miners in the southern African kingdom of Lesotho have found one of the world's largest diamonds, a near-flawless white gem weighing nearly 500 carats, mining group Gem Diamonds said on Sunday.

The diamond was discovered in the Letseng Mine on September 8, the company said in a statement. It has been analyzed by experts in Antwerp and found to weigh 478 carats, with very few inclusions and of outstanding color and clarity.

"It has the potential to yield one of the largest flawless D color round polished diamonds in history," the company said.

Letseng is one of the most productive mines in history -- four of the world's 20 largest rough diamonds have been found at the mine, including the three largest found this century.

Before it is cut into gems it is hard to value the diamond, but a spokesman for Gem Diamonds said a similar weight stone with lesser-quality color and clarity had recently sold for $12 million (around 5.5 million pounds).

"Preliminary examination of this remarkable diamond indicates that it will yield a record breaking polished stone of the very best color and clarity," Clifford Elphick, the chief executive of Gem Diamonds, said in a statement.

The minister for natural resources in Lesotho, an impoverished mountain kingdom in eastern South Africa, praised the productivity of the mine, one of the highest in the world at more than 3,000 meters (10,000 feet).

"Once again Letseng has proved its ability to produce extraordinary diamonds and continues to place Lesotho at the forefront of diamond producing countries," Monyane Moleleki said in a statement.

Letseng is 70 percent owned by Gem Diamonds and 30 percent owned by the government of Lesotho.

The world's largest diamond is the Cullinan, discovered in South Africa in 1905. It weighed more than 3,100 carats before it was cut into more than one hundred separate gems, many of which are part of the British crown jewels.

(Reporting by Luke Baker; Editing by Mariam Karouny)

World's shortest man, leggiest woman meet in London's famed Trafalgar Square

By Nancy Zuckerbrod, The Associated Press

LONDON - Trafalgar Square routinely serves as a stage for mimes, jugglers and other acts, but the tourist attraction drew an exceptionally curious crowd Tuesday when the shortest man who can walk met the woman with the longest legs.

He Pingping, of China, stands precisely two feet 5.37 inches tall. The 20-year-old was born with a type of dwarfism.

He called Svetlana Pankratova's legs "very beautiful."

The two met, with He standing at Pankratova's knees, to publicize the release of "Guinness World Records 2009." This year's version of the popular book is due out Wednesday.

Pankratova, who is Russian but lives in Spain, has legs that are nearly 52 inches or 132 centimetres long. Her upper body has nearly typical proportions, giving her a giraffe-like appearance.

Dressed in a bright-blue mini-dress and low-heeled pumps, Pankratova, 36, said she liked her legs, though they can complicate things. "It's hard to find clothes, especially pants," she said.

She isn't the tallest woman on record. Sandy Allen, of Shelbyville, Ind., who died recently, held that title, according to the book. And He is the smallest man who is mobile, the books says.

The latest edition of the book lists pop star Britney Spears as the most-searched person on the Internet and the television show "Lost" as the most-downloaded show of all time.

The book has been around for half a century. About 3.5 million copies are sold each year, according to editor-in-chief Craig Glenday.

-

On the Net:

Guinness World Records:

http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/

25 Most Controversial Album Covers

by Rob O'Connor in List Of The Day

You can't judge a book by its cover? Sure you can! Really lame folk music always comes with an album cover that perfectly reflects the corniness within. Generic metal bands always manage some endless variation of an unreadable logo matched with bloody, "scary" imagery that isn't shocking to a junior high schooler. Metallica are banking on plain ugly!

Throughout rock history, controversy has helped sell records. And the easiest way to drum up controversy is by putting something on the album cover that you know is going to cause people to complain. It's cheaper and more prevalent than making an incendiary video that potentially no one will ever see. Or paying for advertising.

What's amazing is how few controversial album covers there have been, considering how many millions of albums have been released. The most controversial ones are often by bands that no one--besides a band's loyal cult following--has ever heard of. Therefore, the mainstream just ignores it. As long as it's not in MY backyard, it doesn't matter, seems to be the prevailing logic.

But once the kids start bringing home Appetite For Destruction in large quantities throughout suburbia, watch out!

A lot of these "controversial" album covers seem pretty harmless these days. But to think that including a toilet on your album cover was once deemed offensive is pretty quaint when you consider how often we're treated to herpes commercials on TV today. Not to mention all those promos for "soft rock" and "power ballads" collections that have done more to destroy the "moral fabric" of our country than a thousand middle-fingers airbrushed to oblivion.

That said, we here Yahoo! did apply a standard. There were a few album covers--the Scorpions' Virgin Killer and a band called Mayhem--that we deemed too offensive for our beloved audience. It's a tricky decision. But one where he had to decide that even we didn't want to have to look at it.

25) Lovesexy--Prince: Not everyone wants to look at a naked Prince. Some people would rather look at a paper bag.

24) Street Survivors--Lynyrd Skynyrd: Not so much controversial as bad karma, since the flames surrounding the band only served to remind everyone that they soon lost several members to a plane crash.

23) Achtung Baby--U2: Adam Clayton posed naked on the back cover and they eventually put an X over the "offending" spot. I'm all for artistic expression, but why do so many people want us to see them naked?

22) Nevermind--Nirvana: Personally, I don't think it's the little kid's genitalia that's offensive, so much as the kid's clamoring for the almighty dollar. What are parents teaching their kids? You want to negotiate these things. You want points. You want a percentage! Not just some stupid dollar.

21) Hefty Fine--Bloodhound Gang: Talk about a Man in a Box. From the looks of it, the model wasn't paid enough to do this. He doesn't look very happy. Do you think this improved his dating life? Could it? This guy's really out there somewhere, probably selling shoes. Did he do this to pay for an operation for his sister? To help bail his parents out of debt? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I suppose. There must be some unusual beholders out there.

20) Love It To Death--Alice Cooper: What is it about the middle finger that causes so much trouble when it's extended? I just see it as another way of people saying hello. Isn't that what they're saying?

19) Moby Grape--Moby Grape: Moby Grape never became the huge success expected of them. When your marketing plan includes releasing five singles all at once so radio programmers don't know what to push and everyone's hearing something different, you've got a problem not even the folks at Sterling Cooper can fix. Don Stevenson, one of the Grape's four members who wasn't Skip Spence, was giving the middle finger from his washboard on initial pressings of the album. The record company sensibly airbrushed it out of subsequent printings, as America's moral status hung in the balance.

18) If You Can Believe Your Eyes And Ears--The Mamas And The Papas: Not only did the foursome pose in a bathtub but they had the nerve to leave the toilet in the shot for "realism." Was the bowl empty? Who knows? The record company quickly put a little sign over it letting us know what hits the album had in store for us. In a rare moment of honest advertising, the songs listed were actually hits and not some manager's wishful thinking.

17) Beggar's Banquet--The Rolling Stones: This album's release was held up because the Rolling Stones wanted an old toilet on the cover and the record company said no. The Stones were always courting controversy. It was their gestalt. Yet the record company had its limits and eventually won out with a white cover with just the name of the band and the album title made to look like a bland wedding invitation. Of course, by the time CD reissues were happening two decades later, the original album cover was then allowed and whatever "cutting edge" properties the cover possessed had been effectively blunted by years of people coming up with album covers considered to be much worse.

16) The Pros And Cons Of Hitchhiking--Roger Waters: Once the other guys in Pink Floyd finally got tired of being Roger Waters' back-up group, Waters was sent packing to go solo and try out his tuneless wonders on a crack band of session musicians. Always big on "concept," Waters put together an album about, I guess, hitchhiking. As one of six people who enjoyed The Final Cut, I must admit I never quite grasped (i.e. listened to) this Hitchhiking saga. I tried. But like trying to eat cardboard, it wouldn't go down. The original cover, however, did include an illustration of a woman's bare butt, which soon had a black box over it--to save civilization (natch).

15) Dark Side Of The Spoon--Ministry: It wasn't the allusion to heroin in the title or the presence of a naked obese person on the cover, but the dunce cap that encouraged retailers to refuse this Ministry album. Some took it not as a dunce cap, but as a Klan hat. I guess you could infer that the kid writing on the blackboard was naked because his robe was in the wash, but I still think it's a dunce cap.

14) Waking And Dreaming--Orleans: OK, so what is the guy in the middle looking down at? And is he smiling? The guy he's apparently looking at seems to be pretty impressed with himself. Supposedly, they all have jeans on below the crop. But this album turned me against group showers for life.

13) Tin Machine II--Tin Machine: Sure, the frontal nudity may have offended people who don't like looking at such things, but most David Bowie fans were more annoyed by the stiff, robotic, uninspired music contained within. The cover was, arguably, the highlight.

12) Country Life--Roxy Music: Rock musicians live such a charmed life that they often forget that the rest of society is trying to pretend these rock stars aren't as lucky as they are. Sex, drugs and rock n' roll really do beat working for a living. Unless you're a masochist. And naked girls seem to be one of the perks of the rock life. So, of course, the band would want you to see this instead of some boring old grass. I don't think people were really so much offended as just plain jealous.

11) Lovedrive--Scorpions: Nothing worse than getting your gum stuck on your date's breast. That's a pretty awkward moment. It's as if the Scorpions were auditioning for the part of Spinal Tap.

10) Your Turn To Fall--Jandek: Most Jandek albums are a moral affront to photographers everywhere. I could've chosen one of the blurry covers, but there is something so much more offensive, uncomfortable and controversial about the obvious sexual tension involved with this white desk. Don't stare at this one too long or else risk going blind.

9) Diamond Dogs--David Bowie: Dogs love their private parts. Just watch them expose them. Just watch them clean them. Just watch them use them. But when a person decides to become a canine, he must bear adult responsibility for his actions. And, therefore, David Bowie was forced to sacrifice his artistic ideals to appease the canine-sensitive members of his audience and cover up his doggie parts.

8) Ritual De Lo Habitual--Jane's Addiction: Two covers for this one. One with the first amendment, the other with nude artwork by Perry Farrell. By this point in time, bands kinda knew when they were screwing themselves, so what better way to have it both ways than to offer people options? If retailers don't want to see frontal nudity, then they can read a bunch of legalese. Oddly, the music inside still sounds the same.

7) Electric Ladyland--Jimi Hendrix: Jimi Hendrix liked women. He named his recording studio Electric Lady and his third studio album Electric Ladyland. To honor the album's title, someone (not Hendrix, who reportedly did not like the cover) put naked women on the cover of the British pressing. You can't put naked women on the cover of an album that is mostly going to be bought by impressionable young men. They might get the right idea. And then they might dodge the draft and do drugs and use the cardboard gatefold sleeve for unpure purposes. It's a slippery slope, this morality.

6) Amorica--The Black Crowes: Pubic Hair is a touchy subject. Like children, it should be seen and not heard, or rather it should be waxed and not seen. In any case, get out your airbrushes kids or your copy of photoshop, there's a job that needs to be done. It is true that some people--like me--should never wear a bikini. Some of us respect that.

5) Back To The S**t--Millie Jackson: "Muffle That Fart," one of the album's illustrious tracks, was once an option on a jukebox in a local diner. It got me to part with a few quarters. How could it not?

4) Appetite For Destruction--Guns n' Roses: It's a bit shocking, I know, to think that a wholesome, fun-lovin' group such as L.A.'s Guns n' Roses would choose album art that some might find offensive. The artist Robert Williams was already well-known in art circles and as long as Guns n' Roses were some struggling young glam metal band, no one really cared what they put on their album covers. But once it was apparent that G n' R would likely become a major cultural force destined to take over the minds and wallets of young America, if music retailers would stock the album, it was time to remove the raped and battered woman from the album's cover before the rest of society became infected like TB.

3) Yesterday And Today--The Beatles: The Beatles were pretty tame by today's standards. But they had such an effective hold on the youth of the day and were so central to the culture that anything they did brought heavy scrutiny. So to appear in butcher smocks with bloody meat and decapitated baby dolls on an album cover was likely to cause a few people to be "not pleased" with them. Being the Beatles, they were, of course, smiling and looking like it was all one big joke. Which, of course, it was. But this was 1966 and people were still wearing suits to attend baseball games, you think they were going to put up with this?

2) Unfinished Music, Vol. One: Two Virgins--John Lennon And Yoko Ono: I suppose they had to figure out some way to interest people into listening to these experiments in sound and if it took standing naked on the album cover then that was what it was going to take. Obscene? Well, it's not the most attractive cover photo I've seen. In these days where every pimple is airbrushed, the honesty and integrity of the cover shot is to be respected. But when I reach for a Lennon album, this isn't the one that comes to mind.

1) Blind Faith--Blind Faith: This is still a touchy subject because we're talking about kids and the age of consent, and if you've noticed a lot of old school rockers, who used to sing about having relations with underage girls now move their ages upwards of 18 and 19, instead of 15, 16. Then, you're probably not surprised to hear that a lot of people didn't think the idea of putting a barely pubescent girl with her top off was a good idea for an album cover even if the album did include Steve Winwood and Eric Clapton. They might've been a super group, but they still had to use some common sense.

TIFF '08: More days, more contenders, please

While some of criticism is unfair, a discernable amount of energy was missing this year

Peter Howell

Maybe it was all the fault of Che Guevara.

The T-shirt icon is the subject of Steven Soderbergh's interminable Che, which screened at the 33rd Toronto International Film Festival, and some of Guevara's revolutionary fire must have scorched grumpy TIFF attendees.

Toronto Sun headlines damned the fest for being "elitist" and "a farce," accusations that are both wrong and contradictory.

New York critic Rex Reed wrote that TIFF's love of fine film "has been replaced by gridlock and greed." He would know, coming from Manhattan.

Hollywood Elsewhere's Jeffrey Wells blogged about numerous Toronto turn-offs, even getting steamed over the "please flush" sign he saw in a restaurant washroom.

Chicago critic Roger Ebert seemed as high on TIFF as ever. But his sunny disposition was rewarded with a whack to the head from another scribe, Lou Lumenick of the New York Post, after Ebert asked Lumenick to stop blocking his view at a screening.

If critics can't control themselves at the movies, what hope is there for improving decorum amongst regular stiffs?

It did seem like a difficult year at TIFF '08, with the damp weather and the poor economy also serving to reduce enthusiasm and trim parties. Regular moviegoers I spoke with made similar complaints.

Some of the carping is unfair. TIFF organizers this year released thousands more tickets to the general public and they turned Dundas Square into a free outdoor theatre and music club.

But a discernable amount of energy was missing from the fest this year. Many of the films that drew attention and praise – The Wrestler, The Hurt Locker and Slumdog Millionaire among them – arrived with laurels already bestowed at the Venice and Telluride festivals. I can't think of a single world premiere that really mattered at TIFF this year. The fest seemed like a giant second-run theatre.

Urban sprawl spread TIFF far, wide and thin. As the fest heads south towards its new Bell Lightbox facility (planned to open in 2010), it sadly feels like the lights of Yorkville are being slowly turned off.

Favoured festival hangouts seemed far less bustling, the ROM is no longer being used for screenings and critics expended much shoe leather sprinting to the new AMC Yonge and Dundas for screenings and to the Fairmont Royal York hotel for interviews.

TIFF is still a superb event, but it's clearly a festival in transition.

When organizers meet for their annual post mortem, I hope they spend some serious time discussing how to embrace change without abandoning tradition.

I'd like to offer a few suggestions:

• Stop letting other festivals steal Toronto's thunder. Venice is bumping into TIFF's time next year. New York is getting Clint Eastwood's Changeling and the Palme d'Or winner The Class. London has locked in Olive Stone's W., Frost/Nixon and the new James Bond film. We have to cease being so Canadian and demand more world preems and Oscar contenders;
• Consider reinstating the Perspective Canada program. There were many fine Canuck films this year, especially the Quebec entries Lost Song, La Mémoire des anges and C'est pas moi, je le jure!, but they were lost in the general hubbub. Canada needs a solid TIFF showcase, and I realize I'm reversing an earlier opinion to the contrary;
• Make TIFF a true 10-day festival instead of a five-day one. Push the stars and studios to move beyond the opening weekend. The front-loading of TIFF, always a problem, seemed all the more unwieldy this year for some reason.

Here's to a good TIFF '08!

And here's to a great TIFF '09!

As Che would say: "Viva la Revolución!"

Disney shoots first Russian film

Book of Masters' based on local fairy tales

MOSCOW — The Russian office of Walt Disney has begun lensing its first local production, a children’s adventure based on some of Russia’s most famous fairy tales and characters.

Written and directed by Vadim Sokolovsky, the company’s head of production and acquisitions in Russia, “Kniga Masterov” (The Book of Masters) is being production in association with Moscow’s Three-T Studio, the company founded by director Nikita Mikhalkov.

Location shooting on the film — which Russia media reports suggest is being made on a budget of around $7 million — began early September outside Minsk with studio filming scheduled later at Moscow’s Mosfilm Studios.

Drawing on stories “adapted from Russian fairy tales we all know from childhood,” the movie is aimed at family audiences with a release date set for autumn 2009, Marina Zhigalov-Ozkan, Disney’s Russia head and general producer of the film said Monday.

Leonid Vereshchagin, general director of Three-T, said the studio was pleased to be working with Disney on its first film in Russia.

“We are extremely encouraged that Disney, known throughout the world for its film versions of immortal stories, aims to revive the feature-film fairy-tale genre in Russia,” Vereshchagin added.

Sokolovsky, who is known for such television projects as “An Occasional Fellow-Traveler,” “The Ticket to the Harem” and “Ambulance 2”, was last year nominated for Russia’s Golden Eagle National Cinematography Award for his TV series “The Ticket to the Harem.”

An experienced television drama director, Sokolovksy had also gained experience working with major Hollywood studios.

Jason Reed, general manager of Walt Disney Studios Intl. Production, said, “The credit goes to our team in Russia. Because of Marina Zhigalova-Ozkan’s strong leadership and the hard work of her team, our first Russian language production fully delivers on the goals of our mission internationally.

We are working with a legendary cast, a great director, one of the premier production companies in the world, and — perhaps most importantly — we have a wonderful story that will be a strong addition to the Disney tradition.”

Oasis' Noel Gallagher assaulted on stage in Toronto--2008-9-7

VFest: When Push Comes To Shove For Oasis

Have you ever been in a situation where one person’s actions ruin something for everyone? Well, the thousands of VFest attendees who gathered to watch headliners Oasis perform on Sunday can now tell you a thing or two about that.

The guilty party that ruined the show and caused VFest to end on a sour note was a fan, or at least that’s the story for now. This rogue fan, for whatever reason, decided to rush the stage during the band’s performance of “Morning Glory” and attack Noel Gallagher. From what was seen, it’s probably safe to say that the attacker meant to take down both brothers, but Oasis security wasn’t about to let that happen.

To say that Noel was attacked probably isn’t the most accurate description. To say that he was shoved, hard, is more fitting. Who shoves a rockstar mid performance? Furthermore, who in their right mind would think that trying to take on a Gallagher is a bright idea? Did this fan have a desire to get his face re-arranged?

After about 15-20 minutes, Oasis returned to the stage to finish out the set. This may have surprised most fans since Oasis isn’t always associated with putting their feelings aside, but they decided that the show must go on.

Wonder what their mood will be pre-show in London tonight?

Deadly Ike smashes Cuba; Is US Gulf Coast next?

Deadly Hurricane Ike roared across Cuba on Monday, blowing homes to rubble and sending waves crashing over apartment buildings. Some 900,000 Cubans evacuated, and forecasters said it could hit Louisiana or Texas later this week.

Ike, which raked the Bahamas and worsened floods in Haiti that have killed 321 people, made landfall on Cuba as a fearsome Category-3 hurricane, then weakened to a still-potent Category-2 on Monday as it ran along the length of the island.

There were no immediate reports of deaths in Cuba, despite storm-whipped waves that crashed into five-story apartment buildings, hurling heavy spray over their rooftops, and winds that uprooted trees and toppled utility poles.

"I have never seen anything like it in my life. So much force is terrifying," said Olga Alvarez, 70, huddling in her living room in Camaguey with her husband and teenage grandson. "We barely slept last night. It was just `boom, boom, boom.'"

Forecasters said Ike could make a direct hit on Havana, where decaying, historic buildings are especially vulnerable, before regaining force in the Gulf of Mexico and slamming into the United States somewhere along the Gulf coast.

As the hurricane's eye passed just south of Camaguey, falling utility poles crushed cars parked along narrow streets and the roaring wind blew apart some older buildings of stone and brick, leaving behind only piles of rubble.

A tree smashed the box office of an old-fashioned movie theater downtown and toppled street signs shattered the picture windows of department stores.

Families huddled inside their homes, watching from behind the iron gates of doorways as diagonal sheets of stinging rain fed rising flood waters. A huge piece of plastic roofing spun like a top in the wind above a traffic intersection.

Sporadic reports from six of the eight eastern provinces affected indicated that at least 900,000 people had evacuated, and former President Fidel Castro released a statement calling on Cubans to heed security measures to ensure no one dies. Cuba historically has successfully carried off massive evacuations before hurricanes, sparing countless lives.

"It's a huge evacuation," said Mirtha Perez, a 65-year-old retiree taking refuge with about 1,000 others in a Camaguey art school built on stilts. "We are waiting and asking God to protect us and that nothing happens to us."

State television said officials had taken measures to protect thousands of European and Canadian tourists at vulnerable seaside resort hotels. More than 9,000 foreigners were pulled from the Varadero resort, east of Havana.

A few street signs were topped at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay in southeast Cuba and power went out temporarily in some residential areas, Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Robert Lamb said. But the military said cells containing the detainees — about 255 men suspected of links to the Taliban and al-Qaida — are hurricane-proof, and no injuries were reported.

By late morning, Ike still had maximum sustained winds of 100 mph (160 kph) about 45 miles (75 kilometers) west-southwest of Camaguey. Forecasters said it would likely move out slightly into the Caribbean, picking up strength over warm water, before making Cuban landfall again.

Ike was expected to hit Havana, 290 miles (465 kilometers) away, early Tuesday. Morning skies were only cloudy in the capital of 2 million people, but officials closed schools and seaside avenues and prepared for evacuations.

"My home is strong and it won't fall, and I'm not afraid of the wind," said Yusenia Aguilar, who lives with her two young children on Havana's western outskirts. "But the water rises a lot in this area."

Florida canceled an evacuation order from its Keys on Monday as Ike moved further south, but urged tourists to stay away until Wednesday. After passing into the Gulf of Mexico, forecasters said Ike could hit land over the weekend near the Texas-Louisiana border, possibly not far from Houston.

Ike first slammed into the Turks and Caicos and the southernmost Bahamas islands as a mighty Category 4 hurricane that peeled off roofs and knocked down buildings. Officials began to assess the damage on Monday.

"It looks like Beirut," said Turks and Caicos Premier Michael Misick as his small plane landed at a Grand Turk airport where a collapsed hangar had crushed the aircraft inside.

Some people cried and hugged Misick. At one home, women called out: "No food! No food!"

Mary James, a longtime resident of Grand Turk, said up to 90 percent of the island "is just a disaster."

"I slept in the toilet, me and my family. That's how we survived," James told The Associated Press.

In flooded Haiti, Ike made an already grim situation abysmal.

At least 61 people died as Ike's winds and rain swept the impoverished Caribbean nation Sunday. Officials also found three more bodies from a previous storm, raising Haiti's death toll from four tropical storms in less than a month to 321. A Dominican man was crushed by a falling tree.

Haiti's coastal town of Cabaret was particularly hard hit — 21 victims were stacked in a mud-caked pile in a funeral home there, including two pregnant women, one with a dead girl still in her arms. Mayor Thomas Joseph Will said two more victims were found Monday.

Off Mexico, Tropical Storm Lowell was moving northwest parallel to the Pacific coast with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph (85 kph). It was 280 miles (455 kilometers) south-southwest of the tip of the Baja California Peninsula, which could be threatened late in the week.

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Associated Press writers Ben Fox in Providenciales, Turks and Caicos; Mike Melia in Nassau, Bahamas; Jonathan Katz in Gonaives, Haiti; Alexandra Olson in Cabaret, Haiti; Anita Snow and Anne-Marie Garcia in Havana, Cuba; and David McFadden in San Juan, Puerto Rico, contributed to this report.

Top 10 Main Election Issues

It shouldn't surprise you that Liberal leader Stephane Dion calls this 'the most important vote in Canadian history.' Every leader of every party has at some point in past elections used the same phrase. But there's little doubt that there's a definite difference between the candidates this time around that we don't often get to see.

Here's a look at some of the issues that may loom large this go-round.

1) The economy

You've heard that old canard that when the U.S. sneezes, Canada catches a cold. Well, our neighbour to the south is full of sniffles these days, and Ontario workers have that achy feeling. With the auto industry in turmoil and jobs disappearing from this province, this could be the biggest single issue in Ontario.

Liberal leader Stephane Dion has already taken a page from Ronald Reagan's handbook, essentially asking 'are you better off now than you were two years ago?' The way you answer that question may well define who gets your check mark or your "X" on October 14^th.

2) Taxes

It's become the number one quiver in the Conservative arsenal: offer always over-taxed voters cuts in the amount of levies they have to pay to the federal government. Expect the Tories to hammer away at the issue and remind you they chopped the GST as they promised. And don't be surprised to hear them tell you that Stephane Dion is primarily campaigning on the Green Shift plan - a program few really understand but which opponents will paint as a tax you can't afford.

3) The environment

It's always an issue, but rarely has it ever been as prominent as it is this time. Stephane Dion has made it the centerpiece of his platform and both the NDP and Green Party will be harping on it, too. Except them all to remind you that the Conservatives failed to live up to Canada's commitments to the Kyoto Protocol, which we signed under the Grits in April 1998 but Stephen Harper deemed impossible to carry out.

4) Leadership

A big issue with many. One recent poll seemed to suggest that most Canadians asked didn't really seem very impressed with any of the party leaders, with the NDP's Jack Layton coming out on top of Stephen Harper over who would be the best leader. All three of the major party bosses may be vulnerable on this issue and voters could well be casting a ballot more against than in favour of a specific candidate.

5) Gas prices

They're the highest they've ever been and they could play a role in the vote. Many drivers are already openly wondering why the Conservatives refused to at least temporarily lower taxes on gas as the prices climbed ever higher. While things have improved slightly, they're far from cheap and with hurricanes, tensions in the Middle East and OPEC countries threatening to cut supply, they could go back up again at any time.

The Conservatives and some financial experts have long claimed that cutting gas taxes wouldn't significantly alter the price, but that may not be something many constituents will either believe or want to hear. And those who make their living on the road may make this a major issue.

But with world markets having most of the say, the other parties don't really have an answer for this problem either, a vulnerability for all of them.

6) Health care

This one seems to have taken a back seat to the others, and it's not the high priority it has been in past elections. But it's not out of sight or out of mind - there are still thousands and thousands of Canadians who don't have a family doctor in this country and don't know where to find one. And the waiting list at hospitals and for tests is still too long.

7) Afghanistan

With the death of the 97^th Canadian overseas and our soldiers scheduled to remain there until 2011, there could be growing pressure brought to bear over this issue. The NDP is already on record as opposing our involvement. And with each death, some of the questions surrounding our presence get a little louder.

8) Crime

The Conservative crime bill passed in the House of Commons, and is supposed to allow police and the legal system to crack down harder on law breakers. Some argue it's too tough, others that it's not harsh enough. Those in the big cities, where violent crimes are more likely to take place on a regular basis, may see this as an issue to grill all the parties on as the campaign wears on.

9) The Toronto Factor

As local and provincial politicians agitate for more support from the federal government for Canada's once proud economic engine, voters here may bluntly demand to know: what's in it for us? The Conservatives have a reputation for ignoring Toronto and the city has fallen into the red, having a tough time maintaining vital services like infrastructure.

If the Harper government hopes to have even a shot at a majority, it will have to convince those in the 416 that they matter - and this time, they may have to prove it before the big vote.

10) Nationalism

For the first time in a long time, the spectre of Quebec separation isn't a huge issue. The 'we're leaving' noises that often emanate from La Belle Province have been ramped down in recent years, as the downturn in the economy takes its toll everywhere. The Conservatives are gaining in that province, although not enough to beat the Bloc.

But it's the status of the once impregnable Liberals there that may well tell the final tale of this election. And while Stephane Dion is better known in Quebec than in the rest of Canada, that doesn't mean he's well liked.

Just like the Ontario and Toronto factors, the outcome may well rest with how many Tories and how many Liberals find a seat in this game of political musical chairs in our neighbour to the east.

TTC Launches Next Train Arrival Subway Signs

It's kind of ironic that I'm stuck waiting for my Queen streetcar en route to the official TTC launch of thier Next Train Arrival signs. And sure enough, two streetcars arrive back-to-back after a 20-minute-plus wait.

The new program, which launched yesterday afternoon at Dundas subway station, alerts commuters when the next subway train will arrive at the station via the Onestop Toronto Network.

In its current incarnation, this service is rather limited in usefulness, such as during rush hour, when trains run about every two minutes. But it can alert commuters to possible delays, which would be a lot better than having to wait and wait, not knowing what's going on, only to eventually hear a muffled announcement over the intercom.

"Now you'll know another train is arriving shortly so you don't feel compelled to get on a packed train," says TTC chair Adam Giambrone (pictured above). "They will also show when the following train will arrive.

"This system uses the block signal system for subways and GPS for buses and streetcars. Eventually, we'll have LED screens on poles or built into all-new shelters that will show the expected time and physical location of the next vehicle."

I found it odd that the screen showed that the next train was "in the station" when it pulled in, instead of already letting us know when the following one is scheduled to arrive.

"These systems will improve as the algorythm corrects itself over time," says Giambrone.

Next Train Arrival signs will be installed in all 69 subway and rapid transit stations by the end of 2009.

Tech-savvy TTC commuters will be pleased to know that the TTC is set to launch email alerts over the next couple of months too. "We've also got a trip planner to be launched next June and an e-commerce initiative in the first quarter of 2009," says Giambrone. So you will soon be able to buy your TTC Metropass online, as well. "All these things help customers get where they want to go without delay," says Giambrone.

This is great, but way overdue. We've had MyTTC.ca create a trip planner of their own in the absence of one that should really be an essential service provided by the TTC. Better late than never, I guess.

You may be wondering why the TTC is spending its already-strapped budget dollars on this venture. Giambrone says it costs less than $5,000 per station and the screens are paid for by advertisers. "This is part of an $8 million budget that was pre-approved at the last commission meeting," says Giambrone.

Soon we will get fancy LED screens on bus and streetcar shelters, letting us know when the next vehicle will arrive. This way, if I'm waiting for that streetcar on Queen Street, at least I'll be able to make a more informed decision whether to wait it out, walk or hop in a cab.

Metrolinx Transit Plan Unveiled

Details of a massive plan for the future of public transit in the GTA have finally been unveiled to the media. A report surfaced today pegging the required budget at $55 billion. Now that is if all the recommendations in the plan were to actually go ahead (unlikely). Expect this to blow up into a huge issue around who should be responsible for funding it. Timely, given the talk about an impending federal election.

Back in July we reported that Metrolinx had again delayed this same plan after it was originally scheduled to come out in the spring. This is the organization otherwise known as the Greater Toronto Transportation Authority, and this highly anticipated "master plan" is the culmination of a lot of hoopla over the benefits of making transit plans for the whole region rather than each municipality acting independently.

I said it then and I'll say it again: my fingers are crossed that Metrolinx is given the necessary authority and political support to actually pull off a long overdue investment strategy for the region.

There are certainly some ambitious projects reported to be included:

- Express GO Transit rail service from downtown Toronto to Hamilton, Oshawa, Brampton, Richmond Hill and Mississauga, running every 15 minutes, all day, in both directions;

- Express rail service every 15 minutes to Pearson Airport from Union Station;

- A subway or subway-like "Metro" line along Eglinton Avenue;

- A "Downtown Core" east-west subway line;

- Thousands of kilometres of longer and wider roads, including the extension of Highway 407 east to Clarington, as well as extensions to the 404, 427 and 410;

- Local rapid-transit bus or light-rail services along major routes in Hamilton, Halton, Peel, York and Durham Regions;

- $500-million for "active transportation," such as bike lanes;

- Northward extensions of TTC light-rail lines planned for Jane Street and Don Mills north to Highway 7 in York Region;

- GO Transit commuter rail service expansions or improvements including routes to Niagara, Kitchener-Waterloo, Bowmanville and Aurora.

It reads like an answer to the question "if money was no issue what would you do to improve transit in the GTA?" My initial thoughts are that I hope the group spent at least some of their time prioritizing investments and generally joining us in the world of budgets where transit proposals rarely see the light of day. To be fair though and put things in perspective, the plan is for a 25 year period, so it's not like they're suggesting this all be done overnight. We'll have to wait for the actual document to be made available for a closer look.

For more information about Metrolinx and to see the actual report when it is released, you can visit the Metrolinx Regional Transportation Plan page.