I admit it. For some reason, talk radio and radio personalities have fascinated me and has captured me since I was 6 years old.

Vancouver has been a hotbed on classic talk radio for decades.  Not Howard Stern, in your face talk…in your face, but with style.  Today’s talk is lame compared to the prime years.

I have always loved radio and the voice behind it, rather than the music.  Theatre of the mind. The best part of radio was not knowing the face. I stayed up beyond midnight every night listening to a transistor radio (given as a birthday present by my godmother – possibly the best present ever, except for my first bike which was so sweet) hidden beneath my pillow listening to Jim Robson calling Canucks games, Jim Neilsen, Chuck Cook, Jack Webster, Frosty Forst (seriously genius!) – really, why? I followed the lineup of boss jocks at CKLG - Roy Hennessy, Darryl B, Terry David Mulligan, Stevie Wonder et al. When a “boss jock” was moved to a different time slot, it was like Michael Jordan being benched.
I love music – am listening to tracks as I write this – but each day, I find myself listening to talk radio/ personalities in the car. It is truly a lost art…but for some reason, I continue to be drawn to it. Social media in cave man age.

The boys from Mississagua originally existed as group called Pezz and released their first album – Watoosh! – under that moniker. Then they were threatened with a lawsuit by an American band of the same name. So they changed theirs. But according to Solowoniuk, it was time and the name sucked anyway. The band’s new moniker came from a great Canadian underground movie called Hard Core Logo, directed by the wonderful Bruce McDonald. The movie follows a fictional punk-rock band and it’s demise and stars former musician and actor Hugh Dillon and token bad boy Callum Keith Rennie. Billy Talent was the name of the guitarist. It should also be noted that Joey “Shithead” Keithley, Joey Ramone and Terry David Mulligan have cameo appearances. No wonder it was voted one of the greatest movies to come out of Canada.

The band has been together for 20 years and has avoided the usual troubles of line-up changes and disbandment that often comes with being in a rock group; all four original members are still on board. Ian attributes this to the fact that they were all friends in high school and they all grew up and matured together. You can tell that they treat each other like brothers and truly care about one another, on a level different than most other groups. You need look no further than Aaron’s story for proof.

In 1999 Aaron was diagnosed with the often debilitating disease, multiple sclerosis. Although it is supposed to get worse as one ages, Aaron has stated that his medication, his commitment to stay healthy, and simply playing music has helped him fight through it. According to Ian, Aaron has handled it so well that it has become a non-issue for the rest of the band. A track from Billy Talent I – This is How It Goes – was revealed to be about Solowoniuk and his battle with MS. Certainly, it has brought this group of friends closer together.

The band’s fifth album (4th under the Billy Talent) is called “Dead Silence” and was released on September 4th, 2012. When asked about the title, Ian joked that fans kept asking them why their albums weren’t more original. Also, he believes that Led Zeppelin IV is one of the greatest albums of all time and is the only album worthy of such a title. It had been three years since the release of Billy Talent III and was time for a change, as well a conscious, natural evolution.

When asked what they would tell their 17/18 year old selves, they joked they would say to not try and have 17 parts in one song. Aah simplicity.

I ’m quickly becoming an old man. I’m taping golf pre-game shows (DVR’s are for the young). I travel to three different drugstores to find the proper flavour of milk of magnesia. As I’ve frittered away my twenties, I hearken back to when I was on the cutting edge of the culture. I was the youngest of four children in a household full of ethnic energy with live in Grandparents hovering over simmering pots of God knows what. I was raised with mature tastes. Rather than me bringing the house down with “family” fare, I was raised up. A little Raffi – but more RUN DMC.

So my babysitters became the lovable mainstream misfits of early nineties MuchMusic (MM). Music videos were not as hyper sexualized as they are today. I guess Madonna was a little raunchy, but even as a youngster I figured out she was more of a parody of entertainment. So Ma was cool with the kids watching MM as she cooked, napped, went to aerobics class etc… Even to this day I don’t really enjoy music. I have a little mp3 player that only has podcasts on it. As my brothers and sister enjoyed the three minute mini movies of Sloan, Organized Rhyme and the Skydiggers – I patiently waited for the VJ’s.

Intros and extros of pointless chatter, but to me – comfortably entertaining. Steve Anthony was my favorite. Zach Morris all grown up.

Steve was the handsome slacker with Aryan features whose job it was to be effortlessly cool. He’d shout things out of the MM “environment”, goof around with cameramen and hang out with bands. There was no message, no kid friendly moral, just time being lovingly murdered. I was a kid, but felt like a full fledged teenager. There was Erica Ehm, the sweet but subtly edgy girl VJ. I believe I knew that eventually I was to fight my brothers for the right to marry her. She was pretty without being slutty, filled with a pleasant feminine mystery only a pre-teen boy could experience. There was also Michael Williams, the more intense musicologist. You had to pay a little more attention when he was on. And of course TDM, Terry David Mulligan would pop up from time to time filling us in on the west coast scene. TDM was like the cool uncle of MM. He was older but felt like he fit in with rest. With his Kirk Douglas chin and old man creases in his forehead, my whole family loved him as the cool geezer.

The bad guy of MM was Lance Chliton (hork, spit!). He gave music news in the “Rapid Fax” segments. He’d alternate with the exotically gorgeous Monica Deol. Lance Chilton, with his stuble, khakis, and monotone voice – we just hated him. I thought we were supposed to hate him. He was the Cobra Commander, Rick Rude, Gary from Gary’s Olde Town Tavern. His reason for existence was to be an early nineties villain.

But he wasn’t supposed to be the heel – he just was. A natural born douche. I knew that Americans had Kurt Loeder for MTV News, a serious journalist who served as the calm in the MTV chaos, but you could tell Lance’s heart wasn’t in it. He was waiting for a “real” news job. You could tell he thought he was better than everyone. Fuck you Lance Chilton!

The Oscars, Super Bowl or Wrestlemania of the MM year was the annual video awards, but my favorite was the Tree Toss. It was highly influenced by Letterman and the Gong show, but I was too young for Chuck Barris and too young to stay up for Dave. It was in mid January when Steve Anthony would get rid of the old Xmas tree. It started out as a goofy time killer and morphed into an event. He would go high above the City TV/CHUM broadcasting building and throw it out a window into a dumpster. It was my earliest memory of ironic wit. It grew every year, from a quaint “we’ll chuck a tree out the widow after CECE Peniston”, to an event with countdown clock, training montages, physics analysis and pyro. The dumpster was replaced by a massive logo’s target and Steve would have fans and celebrities alike clamor to help him. Slowly, Steve faded away…but the tree toss still remains.

Steve became old as Zach became Franklin or Bash. I remember Bradford Howe peaking my interest for a bit. Flipping around I see a new generation of VJ’s who I don’t recognize or care to learn about. Probably to some latchkey 8 year olds they are heroes. I know that they are not for my heroes. I’m an old man.

Raphael Saray is broadcaster and writer based in Flin Flon, Manitoba. His brother has met Ian Ziering who starred as Steve Sanders on the original Beverly Hills 90210.

Although the band would be honoured to be inducted,  the campaign to get it there was a grass roots movement and had nothing to do with Trooper.  The band had heard about it, has taken a step back  from it and will let CARAS decide.

“This is really tough for me to talk about.,” explains McGuire. “I don’t think it’s cool for someone being proposed for an award to self-promote. I get transferred embarrassment when I see someone doing it, so I sure don’t want to do it. I find myself treading carefully, which I don’t really like to do either. “

CARAS is the Canadian Academy of Arts and Sciences, effectively the representatives of the Canadian music industry and producers of the annual Juno Awards. Each year, too, it inducts a figure or an act to its Hall Of Fame. There, you’ll find such veterans as Gordon Lightfoot, Anne Murray, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young and The Guess Who. You’ll also find Blue Rodeo, Loverboy and Triumph. The latter inclusions signify a loss of direction or certainty. By comparison, inducting the pioneers who formed the foundation of an industry  were obvious and easy. Trooper leans closer to the pioneers and ahead of Triumph but isn’t in the Hall Of Fame.

Some high profile fans want to rectify that situation.  Broadcasters Joe Leary and Stirling Faux are leading a campaign to get Trooper inducted. It was started by Dave Chesney, a long time supporter of the band throughout  his years as a CFOX program director, CBS record rep and, more lately, editor and publisher of The White Rock Sun. Also on board are Red Robinson and Terry David Mulligan, plus Trooper fanatic Rick Mercer, who has used Trooper’s music in a variety of ways such as parading with a marching band playing Trooper’s Raise A Little Hell.

Still, talking about the Hall Of Fame makes McGuire nervous.

“I’ve never thought too much about the Hall of Fame until very recently, and now that we’ve been proposed for induction it’s  become kind of uncomfortable for me to think about it at all,” he notes. “Honours and awards are great to receive, but I’ve always tried to not think too much about whether or not we’re going to receive one. I’d honestly prefer to be surprised. The committees, or voters, or whoever decides these things, have to make hard choices and I’m good either way with their decisions.

“I have no idea how the induction process works,” he continues. ” My guess is the issue is more a “so much talent in the country and only one pick a year” kinda deal. Looking at the current list of inductees, I doubt there are many people who’d pull one out to replace them with Trooper.”

In a way, the Hall exclusion is the band’s fault, unintentional but a possible outcome of the way it’s chosen to go these past 20 years. In the 1970s to the early 80s, the band were staples of Canadian radio with Two For The Show, Santa Maria, General Hand Grenade, The Boys In The Bright White Sports Car plus the enduring Raise A Little Hell and We’re Here For A Good Time (Not A Long Time). Raise A Little Hell has been used in commercials, is DOA’s centrepiece on a tribute to Trooper album, and is sung in a ukulele version that can be seen on You Tube. Good Times has been covered by country singer Terri Clarke.

Its 1979 compilation of hits, Hot Shots, became the first album by a Canadian band to sell 500,000 copies domestically. It still sold well as a CD until it was replaced last year by a remastered and expanded greatest hits CD, the release of which briefly returned Trooper to the best seller chart for the first time in 20 years.

There were a few more hits in the late 70s but the band crashed in 1980. when a self-titled album proved to be a huge mistake. It had a blurry cover of a soldier and didn’t bear the Trooper name except as a sticker on the cello wrap. The music went in two directions. It’s aggressiveness seemed to be Trooper’s response to the punk rock of the time and its self-production sometimes was self-indulgent as though the band was making a statement that it was an album band not a conveyor belt of singles. Worse, the one single was Real Canadians, rejected by radio, which at the time ran from anything mentioning Canada. From then on, Trooper was persona non grata.

McGuire and partner Brian Smith regrouped and recorded two albums for Warners, the first of which, The Last Of The Gypsies, yielded a couple more staples (Thin White Line, Boy With A Beat) and achieved gold (50,000 copies sold).

Since 1990,  the band hasn’t felt sufficiently compelled to write or record. Self-managed, Trooper has kept a relatively low profile, which has made it easy to overlook and forget. It maintains a Twitter and Facebook account,  it fine tunes its website regularly and has blogs by McGuire (who wrote a book about his touring experiences) and other members of the group such as Paul Gogo. The band plays regularly throughout the country  and thrives. It deliberately has taken the low road, whereas a band such as Loverboy has been more defiant.

In the late 70s, Loverboy  had international success, Trooper didn’t. Loverboy is in the Hall Of Fame, Trooper isn’t.

But, like Trooper, Loverboy still performs and recently released a new album, basically announcing that it is still a vital band. Being in the Hall Of Fame implies that the act is retired to the golf course, or, worse, dead. It filled Loverboy  with ambivalence. On the one hand, Loverboy guitarist Paul Dean is honoured to be in the company of Joni Mitchell and Neil Young, whereas singer Mike Reno foresees  Loverboy having a future and refuses to accept that the band’s best years are behind it.

“I’m a little embarrassed to say that I agree with both Paul and Mike,” says McGuire. “Every one of the current Hall of Fame inductees spent their lifetimes contributing brilliantly to the Canadian music industry. We’d be honoured to be chosen as their contemporaries.

“Having said that, I still maintain that Trooper’s best reward is the ongoing support of the great Canadians who show up every year at our  sold out shows.”

WHO: Trooper

WHERE: PNE West Jet Stage

WHEN: August 31

TICKETS: Free with fair admission

I wrote this review awhile back, and I still enjoy the movie, but it’s become more of a guilty pleasure for me.  I can recognise that it ultimately isn’t that good, and have adjusted my ranking accordingly, but at least it isn’t insulting to hockey fans.

Directed by the man who directed all three Austin Powers movies, Jay Roach, Mystery, Alaska was intended to be one of the ultimate David vs. Goliath sports movies of all time.  A small Alaskan town has their local hockey team featured in a Sports Illustrated article written by a former local boy (Hank Azaria).  The NHL sees the article and thinks it would be a great idea if the Mystery team played the New York Rangers in an exhibition game, during the league’s All Star Break.

One of the things that I really liked about this movie is that they didn’t shy away from all aspects of big league sports.  The NHL Players Association has a problem with the exhibition game and actually goes to court to try and stop it from taking place.  The local judge (Burt Reynolds) is disgusted that a jury made a mockery of his courtroom because the accused (Michael Buie) was the leading scorer on the team.  In my opinion, it’s one of the more real fantasy sports movies to ever be made.

Long-time Captain and Sheriff of Mystery, John Biebe (Russell Crowe) is nearing the end of his playing days and he knows it.  I think Crowe does more with this role than he ever did in the overrated Gladiator, showing off his heart and humour in a much more subdued fashion than the bluster of Maximus.  Mary McCormack is wonderful as usual, playing the wife of Biebe as well as she played the wife of Howard Stern in Private Parts.  It’s a testament to her abilities as an actress that she can be winning as the wife of a multi-media superstar, and still seem believable as the wife of a relative nobody.

The supporting cast seem to be the kind of people you’d see walking around a small town; big fish in a little frozen pond.  Ron Eldard brings some shining charisma to his character, the local lothario that seems to have bedded every woman in town, including Mayor Scott Pitcher’s (Colm Meaney) wife, Mary Jane (Lolita Davidovich).  Azaria plays his reporter character as a Big City slimeball to start, slowly slipping back into the small town underdog, regretful of his outsider status.

Even though it’s a Disney-produced movie, it’s not your most typical of family fare.  The amount of f-bombs dropped in this one would probably make Michael Eisner soil himself, not to mention the teenage sex, adultery, and premature ejaculation! You’ll find out that Stevie Weeks (Ryan Northcott) is fast at everything.  Anyways, I liked Mystery, Alaska a lot (Note: not as much as I used to), and it’s probably my second favourite hockey movie of all time (Note: I don’t think that anymore).  For some reason, it seems to ring true to me, and I’m a big fan of the underdogs as well.

3 / 5

As provinces one by one slowly allowed for the sales and consumption of alcohol, they realized that they needed a way to prevent alcohol from “wet” provinces entering “dry” provinces, so the Importation of Intoxicating Liquors Act was introduced. Essentially it was a law prohibiting the movement of alcohol from one province to another – understandably the “dry” provinces didn’t want liquor seeping over their borders, unbeknownst to them, from those renegade “wet” provinces. In order to control the movement of alcohol within a given area or province, provincial Liquor Control Boards,were established and given control over where it’s sold, where it comes from, how much it is sold for, what types of liquor are acceptable etc.

While the premise of this law in the early 20th century was in all likelihood a good thing, nowadays it is nothing more than a way for the provincial liquor boards to maintain a tight grip, even a monopoly if you will, on the sale of alcohol – they control the products, as well as the pricing, forever maintaining their cut of the profits (from what I have read about the reasons behind the formation, making a profit and being a capitalist venture isn’t really the premise upon which it was established – it’s a little bit like a government taking in billions of tax dollars from….say…the sale of cigarettes and then suing the tobacco companies to recover money spent in the health-care system to treat those with smoking related health problems…..huh….wait…..moving on….on a separate note, I am not a smoker but do believe people should have the right to do to their body what they wish….glad I don’t get political with this….). What it does for businesses and wineries is it essentially holds them hostage, disabling their ability to sell their products to other provinces – they can sell them to willing buyers in the US, but if you’re a Canadian citizen, you are S.O.L. For wineries, and for wine-lovers, this becomes a real frustration…..a country that is hellbent on protecting itself….from itself….it makes no sense at all.

Bill C-311, introduced by the wine industry’s newest hero Dan Albas, looks to reform this Jurassic law by allowing a limited national personal use exemption which is supposed to have the effect of opening up the borders so to speak. So far, while it is being heralded as the Second Coming for wine producers, there is much debate about the actual interpretation of the reformation itself. The spirit and the fundamental basis for this change is to allow consumers to purchase wine made in their own country, to have the ability to have it shipped to them, either via a winery or a wine club, or to be able to purchase directly while traveling, and either bring it back with them, or to have it shipped. The interpretation that the Provincial Liquor Boards seem to be frantically pointing to is that the reformation actually only allows for in-person sales (not over the phone, not online and certainly no inter-provincial wine clubs) and that the amount of wine a person is allowed to bring over the borders should be equal to the exemption one gets when traveling to the US….which in BC is two bottles I believe. This could not be further from the initial premise and both sides of the debate seem to be setting up for some frustrating times ahead.

So where does Terry David Mulligan fit into this? Well, he has always been a bit of an icon for us Canadians, (at least for us of the (cough) aged thirty-ish persuasions), having hosted the television show Good Rockin’ Tonite, as well as being a VJ and producer for the show MuchWest (a Western Canadian music show on our MTV equivalent channel MuchMusic). In fact, and I don’t mean to brag, but when I was in high school (like three years ago…..cough….) he hosted a video dance for us….and (gasp) I was able to get him to sign my arm….Confession – I actually went home and made my parents take a photo of my arm, the proof of which is likely still tucked away in my teenage memorabilia shoe box somewhere….but yes….that makes me one degree from Terry David Mulligan….jealous?? I knew you would be….

Terry currently is teamed up with fellow Canuck 80′s heart-throb, Jason Priestly, for a show called Hollywood and Vines, in which they travel to different vineyards around the world. A longtime advocate for Canadian wine, Terry recently shone the spotlight on the issue of provincial protectionism with regards to the sale of alcohol, by transporting a case of BC and Ontario wine in the trunk of his car over the BC border and into Alberta. Then, coming back into BC with the same case. (BC and Ontario wine into Alberta, and then Ontario wine into BC) counts as two incidents of inter-provincial bootlegging. I don’t believe that an arrest was made, and don’t think he received a fine out of it even (smart of the governments actually to not add fuel to the fire but too bad for the rest of those who were hoping for it to be a catalyst for something huge), but it did serve to grab some attention for this contentious issue. It also serves as a barometer for the frustration levels of consumers and producers who feel as though their own country is out to get them. And quite frankly, when I can walk into any given wine store and find bottles from Australia, Africa, Germany, and Chile, but until recently I didn’t even have a clue that Nova Scotia had wineries, it’s hard not to feel as though that’s true.

Last week, as part of a charity fundraiser for the Vancouver Food Bank, Terry agreed to be roasted and toasted by his peers at a special dinner and entertainment event at Federico’s on Commercial Drive. Vancouver comedian Patrick Maliha, organizer and host, helped put the night together which featured Fiona Forbes, Jody Vance, David Pratt, Carter Hortie, Tanyalee Davis and CBC / Double Exposure comedy legends Bob Robertson and Linda Cullen.

[view:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFCHEfdNMIk?rel=0&w=560&h=315%5D

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by Catherine Barr

http://www.catherinebarr.com

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The Word Bookstore on Milton Street (full disclosure: I worked at The Word in 1998-99, wrote a Gazette feature on their 25th anniversary in 2000, and remain a frequent patron) may have the air, with its notable lack of things like computers and electric cash registers, of a haven from all things technological, a throwback to the feel of an Old World book monger’s establishment. But they’re no luddites. This is a business that has thrived by keeping firmly abreast of the needs of its customers, and with that in mind they are now launching their website, at www.wordbookstore.ca, and it’s looking pretty spiffy.  Likewise, April 18 sees the launch of a new-look site from the Los Angeles Review of Books. The LARB has long been one of the best literary periodicals out there–never quite packing the mystique of its New York namesake, perhaps, but every bit as good, so their new site is subject to no small amount of anticipation. While I’ve always staunchly maintained that there’s no true substitute for holding a book/magazine/paper in your hands, I can’t deny that I’ve been softening in that regard–I do write this blog, after all, and I can barely face the day without a morning dose of The Millions, Pitchfork and others. So maybe I should just quietly drop that line.

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Finally, sincere thanks to the keen-eyed reader who pointed out that the New York Mets won Game Seven of the 1986 World Series in Shea Stadium, not Fenway Park as I claimed in my Gary Carter tribute piece last Friday. That’s what I get for writing from memory, and it seems my memory had done its best to make the trauma of that epic Bosox heartbreak even worse than it was by transferring the final loss to their home field. Now’s a good time, too, to say what a first-class job the Montreal Canadiens did of paying tribute to Carter before their game against the New Jersey Devils on Sunday. In one of those coincidences that can almost make a person believe in the concept of fate, the Devils’ goaltender that night was the great Martin Brodeur, a Montreal native with first-hand childhood memories of meeting Carter when the latter visited the Brodeur family (Martin’s father was the Expos’ official photographer) at their home in St. Leonard.

Ian McGillis

By placing the word storm on the end of a TV disaster movie hopes generally aren’t high for what is to come. Strangely though, there is really no storm in sight and the film is actually quite competent! Shocks all round then.

The Premise

A close passing meteor sheds its bum which crashes into Earth and rips the electromagnetic properties of our planet to shreds. The poles of Earth decide to do a switcheroo and that’s when its time to end the world.

The Disasters Faced

Meteor’s, earthquakes, EMP’s, a dodgy pace maker and a child so is trying soooo hard to be like Justin Bieber it hurts me on the inside.

The Execution

Whilst Polar Storm is heavily reliant on some of the most dubious science found in a recent disaster flick, it goes with it and fully commits to it with gusto. Whilst the film is clearly done on a shoestring budget, the actors involved aren’t slouching and get on with it too and this elevates the dull script. The film has three distinct acts. The meteor coming to Earth, the EMP dramas and the solution to any b-movie ever made – some nuclear bombs to round-up. Sadly the third act is so reliant on CGI that just doesn’t cut it, the film ends damply but it is solid enough up until then to hold your attention.

The Effects

The meteor, its crash and the earthquake effects are passable. What is not is the awful submarine effects in the final half hour which completely shatter any illusion you’ve been trying to pretend you’re in. It’s like an early PlayStation 2 FMV sequence.

Why Its Worth Watching

Polar Storm is well paced and doesn’t use all its cards in the first twenty minutes. It’s full of clichés and disaster movie must haves like moody teenagers, the loveable old man, daddy issues and the government once again not acting on advice. Those of you looking for the drinking game, take a shot whenever teenage Shane tries to look innocent/sexy at the camera is a slightly awkward Bieber pose.

Best Death

I’ll go for Michael (Rob Morton) as the best death when his pace maker decides to give out on an EMP and he does the best death fall in the movie.

Favourite Character

Every few characters are really nice or given much in the way of character development but Marsha Regis’ Pam is always a good lady to declare the end of the world with. I’m sure everyone would have been a bit calmer if she was more involved.

Weirdest Moment

Aside from the science side of the whole film which is just silly, notice that the film seems to use the same two roads over and over for everyone to stop during an EMP pulse – in some cases in the exact same spot! It just made me laugh.

Conclusion

Not bad enough to be a classic, it is an interesting concept of EMP’s causing havoc that keeps things in motion. It may fall flat with awful CGI in the final third and have some improbable moments but hey – what other disaster movies aren’t taking liberties with reality these days! Passable TV affair.

The show began as a platform to help promote local artists who would perform live in the studio. This became unfeasible to set up every week, so the show began to air music videos which were becoming more common. In keeping with the show’s vision, videos were played of non-mainstream artists (what we would call “indie” or “alternative” in today’s musical jargon). Not only were local artists featured, but national and international artists as well. In the early 1980s there was a huge “underground” music scene. Many people were into artists that were not getting played on the radio. So Soundproof offered those into alternative styles of music a way of discovering new bands and artists. Examples of some of the artists they played: Modern English, Echo and the Bunnymen, Moev, Gary Numan, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Images in Vogue, Ultravox, Tears for Fears (before they became famous), and D.O.A.

They also did album reviews (scale of 0 to 10) which were often quite comical. I remember Tom giving a punk album a 0. The following week he said that another punk album was even worse than the one last week, so he gave it a “negative zero”. Below is a video of Tom Harrison talking about the show with some clips. Even though it was simply a local North Vancouver show that played indie music videos, many of the techniques they used influenced other widespread, mainstream music video shows like MuchMusic. It was a very cool little show and those of us who grew up with it remember it fondly. Thanks guys!

]]> http://winecountrybc.wordpress.com/2011/12/06/podcast-95-light-up-the-vines-part-2/ Tue, 06 Dec 2011 16:00:33 +0000 winecountrybc http://winecountrybc.wordpress.com/2011/12/06/podcast-95-light-up-the-vines-part-2/ My coverage of Summerland’s Light Up the Vines festival continues with this podcast. I had the amazing opportunity to interview someone who is normally the one that interviews other people – amazing people in the world of wine and music – Terry David Mulligan, host of Tasting Room Radio and Hollywood and Wines, joins me for a chat about music, wine, and broadcasting advice. He has just released his memoirs, “Mulligan’s Stew” and was eager to chat and share his experiences about music, wine, and what it takes to grow grapes in Naramata.

Also featured this week is a cavalcade of cameos from returning Wine Country BC Podcast guests as we roll down Bottleneck Drive, including Joyce Wegner from Wineries Refined of BC (Podcast 90 and 51), Kim Lawton from the Similkameen Wineries Association (Podcast 83), Allison Markin from All She Wrote (Podcast 83), and Chytra Brown from Savour Magazine (Podcast 51). And making his podcast debut this week is Brian Glaum, president of the BC Wine Appreciation Society, who is also welcome to stop by the Wine Country BC studios for a full podcast next time he’s in the Okanagan. (Sorry, dropped a hint there…)

She intended to make a piano out of cardboard for a video of Tall Buildings, but the project took two months by which time, Hilary Grist had constructed a cardboard city on top of it. The “piano” now measures eight-feet by five-feet and dominates her 600 square foot apartment. The video, with her at the piano, got made, though, and can be viewed right here:

Province writer Glen Schaefer has co-authored the memoirs of Terry David Mulligan, Mulligan’s Stew: My Life . . . So Far.

White Rock’s Sam And Luke have been in Nashville these past six weeks, Nashville being where the duo recorded its first album, Standing In A Room. This time, however, there is no flood.

The official release date for the fourth CD by Victoria’s Current Swell, Long Time Ago is October 25. The band is at the Biltmore, Oct. 22.

The Rickshaw on Hastings has undergone a new look, a better sound and a change of management. The theatre’s reopening is Wednesday, October 19. Since resurrecting itself a few years ago, the Rickshaw has hosted a diverse array of entertainment, mostly musical, and has proven to be a valuable venue.

"Hollywood and Vines" hosts Jason Priestley and Terry David Mulligan

On Saturday June 23rd the Arizona Biltmore Resort hosted “Hollywood and Vines” as part of the Hollywood and Wine summer series.  Guests were invited to sip on various wines from some of the amazing Arizona wineries.  The hosts of the TV show “Hollywood and Vines” Jason Priestley and Terry David Mulligan mingled and sipped with the guests while they taped an episode of the show.  The women (myself included) were especially giddy to meet Jason Priestley aka Brandon from the 90′s TV show Beverly Hills 90210!

A little bit about Hollywood and Vines….

“HOLLYWOOD & VINES” is a high energy weekly half-hour series celebrating wine and the celebrities who love it. Priestley and Mulligan explore the best in wine, food and travel and take viewers along for the ride. “Hollywood & Vines” mixes enthusiastic vintners, wine festival goers, star chefs, sommeliers, restaurateurs and celebs in a quick-witted documentary style program that crushes all aristocratic wine barriers.

Thursday could also be used instead of Tuesday for the same effect.

I stop and wonder how many times that was said without my being aware of  the context?  Not that I’m naive,  it’s just that I couldn’t imagine anyone ever using that term in reference to me.  (Innocent optimism I suppose)

When writing a story about a specific region or culture its important to research the nuances of the local dialog.  It not only brings authenticity to the work but adds a layer that deepens the connection or enlightens the reader (audience)  I’m not talking about lol, or OMG!  I mean knowing that beats means music and wheels refers to a ride.

Equally hard to stay abreast of is newly proclaimed “taboo” politically incorrect words.

Such as Faggot which was recently banned by the CRTC in a song popular more from Terry David Mulligan and Mullato which is apparently now deemed a racist term.  I guess mixed race is the preferred expression.

Anyways I better jet… (I’m not technically leaving the ground but its a fitting word since I’m pressed for time)

Ciao

Director – Joe Dante

Cast – Jon Tenney, Thea Gill, Wanda Cannon, Terry David Mulligan, Robert Picardo, Beverley Breuer, Karen Austin

Release Year – 2005

Reviewed by John of the Dead

This is Joe Dante’s first entry into the “Masters of Horror” series, and stayed much in the “commentary” vein as his second entry, The Screwfly Solution.  However this time instead of focusing on biological and sociological commentary, he went political.  I tend to stray away from films that have a political bias, at least one that is outright, but thankfully this one managed to be a fun and very “undead” watch despite its bias.

“Homecoming” stars Jon Tenney as David Murch, a publicist for the US Army, which is currently at war in the Middle East.  David is part of a live broadcast with a woman demanding to know from the current US president just exactly why her son, a soldier, died overaseas(bring back memories?).  Because David lost his older brother to a war as well(Vietnam), he sympathizes with the woman and tells her he wishes her son would “come back” from war.  Unfortunately for David, his wish is going to come true.  Soon after his broadcast the bodies of dead soldiers brought back home rise from the dead.  What business do the dead soldiers have rising from their eternal slumber?  They need to voice their opinion over the war and give America a look at the outcome of what the soldiers believe to be a wasted war.  How do they plan on making their opinion matter?  Easy, by voting in the upcoming presidential election only days away.

Well, I can honestly say that I have never come across a zombie flick quite like this one.  Usually the zombies we get in horror films are the result of a biological mistake at the hands of the government, never have the zombies really had a “purpose” for their being…until this flick.  It was awesome to watch them rise from the dead with no thirst for the brains of humans, but to make a political statement…and then eat the brains of those who lied to them and sent them overseas.  Heh, oh vengeance…how I love thee.

Dante’s direction is positive and he lays on the gore at just the right moments.  I like that he kept this from being an overly cliché zombie flick yet still kept the zombies true to form, minus their “talking”.  due to the fact that the storyline required the zombies to speak when need be, I am willing to look past the zombie blasphemy and embrace it.  Story-wise this was a cool watch although I do wish it would not have had so much obvious political commentary and just gone the route of being its own original film.  It is obvious the nods towards the lying government had to do with former president George W. Bush and his staff, many facts that would have allowed the use of war in the Middle East were left out, most importantly…the events of 9/11.  Like I mentioned earlier, I really do not wish to see political commentary in a film unless it attacks both sides, or just stays unbiased.  I never want to watch a film that comes off like its screenplay was written by Michael Moore or Ann Coulter.  Had this flick gone on its own and given us the same conflict but without the obvious nods to certain political figures and created some on its own then I would have respected this film a bit more.  Nonetheless, it was enjoyable enough for a 7-rating.

Overall, this was an interesting take on the zombie sub-genre by throwing in a political element that we rarely, and thankfully, do not see very much of in the horror realm.  Give this one a watch if you want to see a different zombie flick or hate George W. Bush and his lackeys.

Rating: 7/10

- I ranked this film #15 of the 26 entries in my Ranking the “Masters of Horror” Entries post.

TIFF 1989: Canadian premiere of Atom Egoyan‘s “Speaking Parts“. Lights dim, movie starts, head credits roll, lights go up, flurry of activity from the back of the cinema, Egoyan seen scurrying out. The lab printed the wrong reel after the credits. Egoyan fetched another print from his downtown Toronto office and taxied back to the theatre. The show went on. (Note: The print of “Speaking Parts” also caught fire in Cannes that same year.)

VIFF 1994: Krzysztof Kieslowski premiered Three Colours Red and was a special guest of the VIFF. I think they also showed a few of his Decalogue films in a special presentation. That year I was a film school drop-out and volunteered at the Hospitality Suite.

TAOS 2002: Room, the short film I produced, directed by Cameron Labine, played at the Taos Talking Picture Festival. It was the first festival I travelled to and I met amazing people, including Chip Hourihan, producer of Frozen River. Have to say it was a thrill being at a party when Goldie Hawn and Susan Sarandon were in the next room.

FilmExchange 2006: My first feature, “Love and Other Dilemmas“, directed by Larry Di Stefano and written by Deb Peraya played this intimate Canadian festival. It felt like coming home because LAOD had been selected by the NSI’s Features First program. I discovered that Terry David Mulligan is a gracious host and wine connoisseur.

Check this space for an exclusive blog for SuperU from TIFF 08 by Marguerite Pigott, Super Channel’s Creative Development Representative for the province of Ontario. In addition to her work for Super Channel, Marguerite is also an independent consultant focusing on script development and project marketability.