Art exhibits explore Toronto/Ontario urban and wilderness spaces

Two art show / exhibitions open this Friday that explore the geography of Ontario, one focusing on the man-made spit at the foot of Leslie St. in Toronto, and the other on the remote wilds of northern Ontario, north of Thunder Bay by and reached via Highway 11.

I don’t really frequent art openings and I’m [...]

Toronto Summer Festivals - A Glimpse of the World at Home

I am a huge proponent of the multiculture. It informs my design and my world outlook. I also teach English and through my teaching have met students from literally every corner of the globe.  In my artistic life, as Mikooshka (my musical alter-ego), I craft music which crosses over from genres like reggae, rock and [...]

The World Comes Home to Africa - FIFA World Cup 2010 - A Musical Perspective

The opening ceremony of the 2010 World Cup is taking place right now, and it’s reminiscent of the large-scale ceremonies I remember from the Vancouver and Beijing games. The stadium is ginormous and hundreds of Africans, primarily women, are performing synchronized dancing as performers do songs blended together in medleys.

I just saw the singer of [...]

“Waterlife” Documentary – Free Screening at NFB on June 1st

This movie looks like a “must see.” The director, Kevin McMahon has directed some amazing documentaries, including one of my favorites, “McLuhan’s Wake” – a doc on the Canadian media communications theorist Marshall McLuhan.

Green Screens presents WATERLIFE

Directed by Kevin McMahon, 2009, 109 minutes.

Tuesday June 1 at 7pm

FREE

NFB Cinema – 150 John St (at Richmond St [...]

Graphics and Illustrations of 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games

The branding and identity work for the Olympics features some stunning illustration. Kudos to the Vancouver Olympic committee!

Today I fired up Google Chrome and saw the Olympic graphic (or “doodle”) Google created for their homepage. (It’s pictured at the end of this article). The image is subtle and appealing. It doesn’t even use the [...]

Painters Eleven "in Motion" at Christopher Cutts Gallery

For those of you interested in drawing/painting and animation I thought you might want to check out a week-long exhibition called “Eleven in Motion” at Christopher Cutts Gallery. Some of you may know “Painters Eleven” as Canada’s own version of the New York School (Abstract Expressionism). Well, the Toronto Animated Image Society (TAIS) has [...]

Samba on Snow – Cheering "Hometown Heroes"

The finest logo I've ever seen!

In my house we congratulate the players with a “molodyets” and routinely root for names ending in “ov” or “in.” Lately I’ve been shouting “Davai Gino!” while my partner urges on “Ovie.” Yes, we are cheering on the Russian players for Washington and Pittsburgh. Of course I feel advantaged [...]

Gerald and Setsuko Lazare – East Meets West Book Launch – Japan Foundation, Toronto

Gerald with his award-winning portrait of Setsuko which adorns the cover of their book

Last  night I attended a book launch and lecture for Gerald and Setsuko Lazare’s amazing new publication “East Meets West.” The Japan foundation is the perfect setting for an event like this – central and elegant in design and ambiance. As [...]

STIR – Multimedia mashup with Castellanos brothers, Faisal Anwar and Sampradaya Dance

STIR ws held in the MIST theatre at the amazing Erindale Campus of U of T

“STIR is a dance, video & music mash-up party!”

No DOUBT! On Thursday I had the pleasure to attend an event which blew my mind for its creativity and originality – it featured the work of Toronto artists Faisal Anwar, [...]

Robert Ward speaks / reads on the 'Camino de Santiago', Spain

Cross at Finisterre – Robert and Michiko

My friend Robert is a writer with a passion for the ‘Camino’ pilgrimage trail in Spain – he’s written books and magazine articles about it – and now he’s going to share his writing and memories of his experiences via a couple of speaking engagements. First up is [...]